Hawk & Dagger
by Mikel Midnight
Summary: Hawk & Dove second version amalgamated with Cloak & Dagger.
1. First Issue Special

It was a first true Golden Age. It was a time when gods were commonplace, striding down from Eternolympus and dwelling in the houses of men.

Old Man Zeus, he sought to reign in the amorous goddess of love and beauty, Aphrodite, by marrying her to Hephaestus, the lame and ugly god of the forge. But Aphrodite would not be so easily controlled and she continued unimpeded, notably becoming involved with Ares, the god of war. Hephaestus knew better than to trust his wife alone, and spied on her. When he angrily confronted Aphrodite with his observations, he found he could not dissuade her from her affair. So he sought his revenge.

He waited until the couple was abed, then released a net onto them. It was a cunningly designed artifice, structured so that the more the couple moved and writhed in their attempts to escape, the closer they were pressed together. Hephaestus summoned the other Eternolympians to witness his wife's adultery, but they only laughed and mocked him for displaying himself as a cuckold, and so blatantly advertising his shame in such a graceless manner.

* * *

It was fifteen years ago.

It was First Elmond Bank. A hold-up was in progress ... a crook with a stocking pulled over his head, people lying on the floor with their hands braced behind their heads, worried-looking clerks.

The man with the gun eyed the crowd, nervously. His attention particularly focused on the petite blonde woman dressed in white. She smiled at him, her expression sympathetic, which only seemed to make him more nervous.

The blonde woman stood poised, ready for any sort of movement. Her right hand glowed white. "Look," she continued, "you can see the costume, you can see I'm a superhero, it never works to shoot at super heroes, you know we're all bulletproof like ... Super Soldier."

The man emitted a short laugh, half nervousness and half bravado. "Yeah yeah ... maybe I'll hit a soft spot ... why don't you just give me the money and we'll call it even?"

The woman shook her head as the man narrowed his aim in her direction, "Shooting at me is only going to hurt someone accidentally, and I'm still going to take you in. So why not make it easier on yourself?"

The man with the gun steadied his hand. "It's not me that needs it easy, bitch."

Damn, she thought, diving to one side as his gun went off in her direction. She had spent most of their conversation slowly shifting her position away from the other hostages, making herself the obvious target and drawing fire away from the noncombatants. But she had hoped it wouldn't come down to combat at all.

Her hand moves quickly, a dagger-shaped burst of brilliant white light burst from it, striking the man's gun. He howled in shock, dropping it. Someone screamed.

One of the security guards who had been hanging back in the crowd too advantage of the situation, and grabbed the gunman from behind, forcing him down with his truncheon. "Good job, Miss ... ?"

She blonde woman shook her head, "Dagger ... if you have to call me anything. And no, it was a very bad job actually."

The security guard slapped cuffs on the gunman. "But why ... you captured the bad guy, you stopped him from robbing the bank." He hoisted the gunman to his feet roughly. "Looks like a blazing success to me."

"No," the blonde woman said. "I failed ... I hurt him."

* * *

The forces of love and war could not be held back indefinitely, and an Eternolympian's life is long. After a period of time ... was it centuries? Who knows how time passes for legends? Aphrodite and Ares recommenced the affair, trysting again in secret.

Aphrodite and Ares smiled at the intricately designed baubles that appeared on their doorsteps, metal armbands carved with symbols of love and war. How could they not feel their passions enflamed by such a gift? How could they not make plans to meet within the hour?

It was only then they found they could not touch, could not get within a foot of each other. For the god of the forge had grown more canny over the years and his eyes had been everywhere. His canniness was not limited to the technology he had formed; he had grown cleverer still in his dealings with the other gods. It was to their despair that the lovers found they could not even remove the tokens, which had bound to their flesh.

Ares cursed the fates that denied him and his lover satisfaction. But the goddess of love was undeterred, familiar as she was with the many expressions of passion. The gods, she reminded him, have always found satisfaction in living vicariously through the lives of mortals.

* * *

Tandy Bowan walked slowly back to her apartment. Despite the chill in the air she was dressed relatively lightly, as if she were warmed by an internal source. Her face was troubled, as she reflected on the past day and on another day, months past.

She was on the run from her family, again. She had met some boy, Tyrone, at the bus stop. He had been kind to her, and seemed even more desperate than she, so she bought herself and Tyrone dinner. She had had more street smarts than to have offered Tyrone money for a place to stay right there in public, but she had felt foolishly safe, being on her own. It didn't take them long after leaving the restaurant to get mugged, her money stolen, and the pair of them kidnapped ... sold like meat to the gangster, Boss Dargo.

He and some scientist were trying to create a new, highly addictive, designer drug that the scientist had developed. Poor Tyrone had died under the drug's effects, along with a lot of other kids. She remembered Hank Hall, alone in the cell with her, weeping over his dead brother, Don. Their dad was some local judge who had tried to oppose Dargo, and the brothers had tried to track down a man who had thrown a bomb into the judge's chambers, and then been captured along with the others. Hank was able to break them out (the window bars were pretty much rusted), and he swam her and himself to safety.

She remembers still the pain coursing through their bodies from the drug as they tried to make their way through the grounds surrounding Dargo's estate. The two of them covered in mud, despair and exhaustion weighing down their every step.

And then that silvery light ... and the woman's voice, more beautiful than any she had ever heard. It offered her healing, and strength to right her wrongs, and love to shield the world. As the light filled her, she looked again at Hank, who looked into the distance, listening intently to his own inner voice, his body illuminated by silver and crimson. She saw for the first time his hawk-like masculine beauty, and marveled at the interplay of the powerful muscles beneath the skintight garment he now wore. Hands trembling, fear and pain gone, she reached out to touch him ...

* * *

And in Eternolympus, the gods of love and war looked at each other from across the room, their souls thrilling with the actions of the avatars they created, their hands touching their own bodies as their lovers' could not.


	2. Origins, part two

Hank dropped the large box in the center of the room. "I think that's the last of them."

Tandy looked around, "I can't believe how much *stuff* we have ... well I mean it's mainly all your stuff ... erhhh how are we ever going to unpack all this?"

Hank walked over and took her hand, "I packed it up, I can unpack all it myself if I have to. Don't worry. Come here and hold me. I'm *more* concerned about our landlord ... I don't know how long I'm going to be able to go without punching his wrinkled old face in. If the room wasn't so cheap ..."

Tandy smiled a little, and buried her face in his shoulder. "You don't mean that. I like Mr. Garrett ... I bet he has lots of stories to tell. Did you see all those framed newspaper stories on the walls? He used to be a police reporter. I bet he has fascinating stories to tell, once you get past that grouchy shell."

Hank sighed. "That sounds exactly like what Don would have said."

Tandy looked up at him, and placed her hand on his heart. "I know it's difficult for you.

Hank nodded, "He was my other half ... I still don't feel whole without him. You would have loved him, Tandy."

Tandy nodded, slightly, resting against him, "I know."

He reflected on the past day and on another day, months past.

* * *

Hawk looked at the shining woman who, almost by instinct, retraced the symbol on her face which somehow concealed her identity, restoring its presence with the silvery glow from her fingertip. "I'm ... I'm sorry."

Dagger looked up at him, "For what? I don't know ... quite what happened there, but I definitely started it. What do we do now, though?"

Hawk looked distressed. "It's not just that ... I don't know what came over me. I shouldn't even be here. Don and I ... we ... Boss Dargo tried to kill our father with a bomb tossed into his judge's chambers. I spotted the man who threw the bomb and ... god ... I talked Don into joining me to find the evidence needed to incriminate Dargo. We tracked him to an old building, and tried to find the meeting room used by the criminals but instead found ourselves in a room with a jammed door. There were other kids there and ... you know the rest."

Dagger nods solemnly, "Tyrone and I were there ... what do you want to do know?"

Hawk slams a fist into his hand, "The first order of business is to hunt down and kill the people responsible."

Dagger shuddered and shook her head. "No ... we have to protect your father. Dargo's men already made one attempt on your life ... now that you've escaped they've lost a bargaining chip. What's to stop them from trying again?"

Hawk turned slightly pale, and nodded and the pair set off for the town of Elmond.

* * *

Hawk and Dagger scouted out Judge Hall's chambers where he often worked into the night. Hawk had sneaked into Hank Hall's room and obtained a set of walkie-talkies, so they could keep in touch. I don't see anything so far he radio'ed.

Dagger took a moment to remember how to operate the 'send' button. No, me either, could we have been way off the mark? It's been hours. Maybe they'll be striking at your home ... or maybe we just have no idea what we're talking about?

Hawk reported back, But I ... oh my god, what's that?

Dagger heard a crash, and ran across the street, shattering the locks to the law building with daggers of light from her hands. She burst in and saw Hawk, arriving through the other door to the chambers. An older man, evidently Judge Hall, was backed away in a corner from the odd presence which had appeared from nowhere. An enormous, muscular man, hairless and bare-chested, wearing green tights and what appeared to be an odd eyepiece with long antennae stinging out at the top. "Whoop whoop whoop!" the figure hooted, "the Absorbing Bug is here and it's time for Judge Hall to get squished!"

Hawk took a leap at the odd figure, "That's what you think, bugface!"

The Absorbing Bug was suddenly gone from where he was standing, and Hawk crashed to the ground. The Bug reached out a hand, touching Judge Hall's desk and was suddenly transformed into a figure of solid oak, "Whoop whoop, it's time for this bird to have his wings *clipped*" His solid fists started to pound away at the young man.

Dagger, watching the pair, tried to take Judge Hall by the shoulders, "Let me take you safety, sir."

Judge Hall glared at her, "Don't touch me you costumed maniac! This isn't New York you know ... we've done fine so far without costumed vigilantes in Elmond."

Dagger blinked, and her hands left him as if he had burned her. She watched the combatants. Hawk had managed to somersault away from the Bug's pounding, and grabbed a metal poker from the fireplace and tried to pierce his opponent's oaken skin with it. The Bug suddenly blinked out and reappeared on the other side of the room. "Whoop, whoop whoop, nice try buckaroo, good thing I can't feel much when I'm made of wood! I'm not a real boy! Now let's play again!" He took two quick steps towards Hawk, but Dagger suddenly ran interference, grabbing his arm and sweeping her leg against his, causing him to crash into the ground. The Bug laughed, "Wanna wrestle cutie?" and grabbed her ankle in a crushing grip, causing her to cry out, and tossed her aside.

Hawk shouted at him, "SHUT UP!" And leaped at his chest, bouncing off though the Absorbing Bug was forced back a step.

"No no no Gapetto," laughed the villain, "It's my turn to play with metal ... now where's that poker?" He disappeared, and was standing by the fireplace, stretching his fingers down to absorb the qualities of the burning metal implement.

Dagger suddenly threw one of her light-daggers at the Absorbing Bug's fingertips, causing him to absorb her energy instead. He started to glow. "Wow, this is treat! Thanks lady! I've never felt better! I feel like a million bucks! Or is that a million volts?"

"Try this, you maniac!" Hawk stood behind him and suddenly emptied the contents of a five gallon water jug from the Judge's cooler atop him.

"Ow," said the Absorbing Bug. "Whoop crackle fizz ow ... didn't anyone ever tell you water and electricity crackle don't fizz crackle mix?" From outside, sirens were heard as the police arrived. With a blink, the Absorbing Bug teleported out.

The pair gasped for breath. "Da ... uh, Judge Hall sir, are you alright?" Hawk inquired.

Judge Hall stood up and straightened his tie. "Yes, no thanks to you costumed vigilantes. I expect you to turn yourselves in now."

Dagger blinked, "What? We just saved your life!"

Judge Hall nodded to the policemen who burst into the room, then to Dagger, "I've read about you folks ... where you appear, other costumed trouble also appears. You're taking the law into your own hands, and we have no call for that in Elmond. Officers, arrest this pair!"

Hawk cried out, "Like hell!" And crashed forward, knocking the policemen's guns from their hands. He grabbed Dagger, who barely had time to react, "Ha ... Hawk, what ... ?" and the two of them escaped into the night.

* * *

Tandy kissed Hank gently, "I'm glad at least that your dad likes _me_."

Hank nods, "Yeah ... it's made things easier. I sort of hated to leave him ... after Don died and all."

Tandy stood, and took him by his hand. "Look, let's take our minds off the past. There are other reasons we took this apartment, remember? Like the big four-poster?"

Hank smiled softly at her. "So, tell me what to do."

Tandy rummaged around in one of the boxes, pulling out a set of leather straps. Her eyes sparkled at him. "Lie back and allow me to worry about what to do, sport."


	3. Talking Heads

(with additional dialog help by Cyndi Norwitz)

Tandy Bowan shuffled together the papers scattered atop her desk and put them back into the file folder. She smiled at the red-headed girl seated opposite her. "So how's that new home health aide working out?"

Alicia Masters quirked a half-smile. "Oh I don't know. I can't find anything. Though at least I'm not stepping in God knows what anymore."

Tandy laughed. "Yeah, that's a plus. Look, if she's not working out you just tell me, I'll call the agency and have them give you someone else. Someone who gets it about not moving your things."

Alicia smiled shyly, and bowed her head a little. "Well, I guess...I'll let you know. I don't want to get her in trouble."

Tandy shook her head, "You wouldn't be. You need someone who is used to cleaning house for the blind and if this woman isn't, then she's wrong for you."

Alicia nodded a little, "I guess," she said a little uneasily. She placed her right hand on her other wrist to feel her watch. "Hey, I have to get down to Social Security now and sign those papers." She rose, grabbed her bag and cane, and turned towards the door.

Tandy opened her desk drawer and filed away the case folder. "Okay, Alicia, I'll see you next week." She rose to say goodbye.

Alicia shook Tandy's hand, "Yeah, see ya," and turned to leave.

Tandy watched Alicia walk out the door, then look up as she felt a hand resting lightly on the top of her head. "Hey Spike, it's time to break for lunch."

Tandy looked up, playfully batting the hand away. "I'll eat with you Archie but only if you drop it with that dumbass nickname. It's not like you've never seen a punk haircut before."

Archie grinned, and helped Tandy out of her chair. "Okay."

Later, Tandy took her food out of the microwave and sat at the small table with Archie. "So, you're obviously bouncing to tell me something, so ... tell."

Archie beamed, "I sold two cartoon scripts! One to 'Spider-Boy and his Amazing Super Friends' and one to 'Excalibur Friends'!"

Tandy smiled softly, "That's wonderful."

Archie bounced a little in his chair, "All that time writing those lame characters for Splinter Comics ... Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Spider-Man, Wolverine ... paid off, I managed to get an 'in' with the man who was producing Dark Claw Adventures for television, and I was able to get a job with some other licensed properties."

Tandy nodded, "So you'll be too good for us lot soon, then? I wouldn't think the Federal Welfare Center in Berkeley would have much to offer a hot-shot Hollywood script writer."

Archie settled down a bit, "Aw, I'm still freelance ... it's just two scripts, It's hardly the same as a steady gig. I'll be here for a long time I think."

Tandy smiled more, and nodded, squeezing Archie's hand. "Good. I really am happy for you."

Archie nodded. "So how about you? You've hardly told me at all about this new guy you've been seeing ... and you've already moved in with him! Quite a whirlwind romance."

Tandy blushed a bit. "Well ... it was."

Archie grinned, and leaned in closer. "How did you two meet?"

Tandy looked down at her food. "That's, er, a long story. Say we, um, had mutual friends."

Archie nodded, "A blind date, I understand. So what's he like? The pair of you going to anarchist book fairs all the time and the like?"

Tandy rolled her eyes, "Actually no ... erhh he ... " she leaned in closer, whispering mock-conspiratorially, "he ... he's a ... he works for SFC!"

Archie mimed a comic double take, then looked at Tandy shaking his head, "I can't see it ... you're with someone working for a company like that? You know what their politics are, the kinds of causes they donate money to?"

Tandy nodded, distractedly, "Yeah ... I know their politics ... so does he ... he shares them. He's like the ultimate Reaganite."

Archie scowled, "I just can't see you with someone like that."

Tandy sighed, "It's not so bad ... I couldn't stay with him if he were racist or homophobic ... but he drives me crazy sometimes. Just being with someone who supports the death penalty is tough. And the kinds of comments he comes out with ... "

Archie reached across the table and squeezed Tandy's hand gently. "Is he good to you?"

Tandy smiled, "Yeah, he's good to me."

Hours later, Tandy smiled to herself again, recalling the conversation as she walked home at night. She almost didn't notice the sounds coming from the alley a few blocks from her house. A mugging? Some sort of altercation. "Dagger," she whispered to herself under her breath, initiating the physical transformation into the creature of light.

She leaped effortlessly onto the bottom platform of a fire escape, and clambered to the rooftops, trying to get a better vantage point as she approached closer to the conflict. It brought her the sight of a very familiar, white-and-red clad figure in action.

Hawk growled, "You punks know the Hawk runs a drug-free neighborhood." Three men approached him warily; one other lay unconscious on the paved surface. The closest swung a punch in a tight arc, which Hawk evaded, stepping back and then slamming a kick into the man's stomach. One of the others hit Hawk in the shoulder with a baseball bat, causing him to lose his balance ... he swung again, and Hawk raised his arm to block. There was a *crack* and the bat broke in two with the impact. The man looked at it stupidly for a moment before Hawk grabbed him by the shirt-front and started a series of repeated punches to the man's face.

He was almost distracted by the third running at him with a knife, swinging wildly. Hawk grabbed his wrist, forcing him to drop the weapon and pressing him to the ground. "Let him go," said a voice from the fire escape.

Hawk looked up. "Dagger? What are you talking about? Don't defend this street scum."

Dagger said, "He's 14. Brutalising him won't accomplish anything. This whole ... mess ... " she spread her hands out to indicate the battle field, "won't accomplish anything." She leapt down to ground level.

Hawk sighed, and released the boy's wrist, who ran off. "This sort of scum don't deserve any better ... they're poisoning these streets with their junk."

Dagger said, "You think I don't know that? But I deal with these people and their customers every day. I talk to them; I don't just pound on them. They deserve better than the lives they're living now."

Hawk said, "They had their time to choose before they ran into me."

Dagger shook her head, "Their life doesn't give them that many choices."

Hawk sneered, "You and your typical liberal justifications for bad behavior ... it's all just a way of avoiding responsibility for your environment, and letting other people avoid responsibility for their actions."

Dagger said, "That's ridiculous."

Hawk shrugged, "It's all just ... it's passivity ... c'mon ... make a damn decision about something, show some damn initiative."

Dagger growled, grabbed Hawk by the throat, pulling him to her and silencing him with her kiss.

* * *

EPILOGUE ONE:

The small satellite's orbit started to deteriorate, burning up in re-entry as it fell towards the Earth after its twenty year orbit. Its passenger was unperturbed. He knew he would survive the fall. There was much to do. A planet to remake. He had been gone far too long, since he had been exiled into space.

* * *

EPILOGUE TWO:

In the dark cave, the six cloaked figures moved about. The tallest of them reached out, his flipper-like hand clutching at a match with peculiar ease, lighting three candles, one after the other. "Copper. Silver. Gold." The figures chanted slowly in the darkness. "Copper. Silver. Gold."

* * *

EPILOG THREE:

The sailor approached the old man pacing Edmonton Pier. "Hey," he said, "You're Mr. Eule?" The old man turned to look at him. "I go by that name sometimes," he replied in heavily German-accented English, "You have the package?" The sailor nodded, "Be happy to be rid of it too ... it gives me the creeps." The old man chuckled, "As well it should. I have the money." Furtively, in the dark, the exchange was made. As he walked to his automobile, the old man opened the box, peering at its contents, a wide smile creasing his wrinkled face. "Soon, my son ... soon."


	4. Moonshine Encounters

(with apologies to Jason Hernandez Rosenblatt after his story in the_ Silver Age Secret Files_)

Hank placed the phone back on the receiver. Tandy caught his eye as he exited the phone booth. "You look like you're wanting to tell me something. Did Steve cancel for the party tonight? I've been looking forward to meeting your old college chum."

Hank replied slowly, "He sounded upset. We're going to talk to him in person."

Tandy nodded, "I think I remember you mentioning where he worked ... things aren't working out for him at that television station?"

Hank shook his head, "Wouldn't say. Why don't you come along? We're on our way to the costume party anyway, no point in my coming back to get you ... that'll make us even later."

Tandy picked up the helmet she had purchased at the costume shop. "I suppose so ... I'm sure 'Spider-boy' and 'Dr. Strangefate' can arrive fashionably late for a party ... we can just think of it as arriving in the nick of time."

Hank hailed a taxi, and the couple trekked to the other side of town. Hank tipped the driver, "Wait for us, and keep the meter running."

"I wonder what's going on." Hank started up the steps of the old brownstone, "Steve's door is wide open."

Tandy followed Hank as he bounded up through the door. He shouted, "Steve!"

Tandy peered around his shoulder into the unlit room. A gasp escaped her lips as she saw the prone figure on the ground.

Hank leaned down by the man's side. "He looks like he was shot."

Tandy bit her lip, and placed her hand on Hank's shoulder. "We ought to call the police."

Hawk picked up a small card by the corpse's hand. "No, not yet. This is personal. Steve was trying to ask for my help, and I failed him. And ... I think I've found something. Something addressed to me."

Tandy quirked an eyebrow. "What does it mean?"

Hank scowled, "It means that Hawk and Dagger may be needed ... or ... uh ... Spider-boy and Dr. Strangefate as the case may be."

Tandy noted, "It's a drawing of a crescent moon and a sun ... I think I understand what Steve was trying to tell you. Moon and shine!"

Hank nodded, "Moonshine. He may have been referring to that old bootlegger's air strip outside of town ... Whitko Airfield!" Hank turned the card front and back. "Odd ... it looks like a business card, but it's completely blank gray, other than what Steve wrote."

The couple taxi'd out to the air strip, sending the driver on his way. Tandy donned the helmet. "May as well complete the image," she responded to Hank's askance look, shrugging the cloak around the front of her body, effectively concealing her gender.

As they wandered through the darkened air strip, Tandy took Hank by the arm. "I'm not sure this is a good idea ... I feel like someone's watching us. Maybe we should have called the authorities after all."

Hank squeezed Tandy's hand. "This place looks deserted so far ... I'm wondering whether we interpreted the message correctly."

Suddenly the silence was ended by an almost demonic laughter, going on and on, sending chills down the couples' spines. "Who's that laughing?" Tandy asked nervously. Hank looked around. "Who's out there?" he shouted.

A familiar, costumed figure clambered down from the bare, upper branches of a tree, and proceeded to laugh again.

"Criminey!" Hank whispered to Tandy, "It's the real Spider-boy!"

Tandy whispered back, "At least he seems amused, rather than angry. Well, we have as much right to be here as he does."

Spider-boy approached the pair. "I've read about you two. I figured we'd run into one another at some point, though I had hoped for a more appropriate occasion. As you can see, I'm on the trail of the same gang that killed your friend."

Hank quirked a brow. "What do you know about it?"

Spider-boy joined them on the ground. "The goons stole a top secret technology that the television station, where your friend Steve worked, developed in conjunction with the military. Steve overheard them planning the theft and confronted them. Before I was assigned to cover this case, he holed up ... to get help, to warn someone, is my guess. By the time I caught up with him, it was too late. If the goons make it out of the country with the technology, they'll be unstoppable. Their getaway flight is due within an hour. We have to make sure they're not on it."

Tandy nodded, "That sounds serious. Do you know where they're hiding out?"

Spider-boy said, "They're in the controllers' cabin ... the windows have been blacked out so it will appear empty. I was about to call for reinforcements, but it won't be necessary with you two at my side."

Hank seethed, itching for action, "Let's take them down."

Under cover of darkness, the trio edged their way to the cabin. Tandy's composure and forbearance led her immediately to the entrance way.

Spider-boy smiled, "You're a lot more grounded than I thought you'd be," he said to Tandy, "But I can see your perceptions are as adept as ever."

While Tandy pondered this, the two arachnid-clad companions crashed their way into the cabin, only to be confronted by a quintet of men, dressed identically in black suits and dark glasses. "Spider-boy ... two of them!" one of the men said. "And ... Dr. Strangefate!"

Spider-boy clenched his fists, "You seem to have the advantage then ... who do I have the pleasure of addressing?"

One of the men took the lead. "We are ... the Ditkaters!"

Tandy stammered, "The Dictators? The Ditk ... what?"

Another of the men whispered to his companion, "The boss's speech impediment is acting up again."

The leader sneered, "You may call us Mr. A, Mr. E, Mr. I, Mr. O, and Mr. U. Our true names do not matter ... soon we will rule the world with the technology we have stolen!

The man identified as Mr. I "Our card," he said, flipping a blank gray business card at the trio. Hank peered at it, "Then ... it *was* you who killed Steve!"

"Yes," Mr. U said. "The card represents the true nature of morality ... that life and morals are never clear, all is gray and indefinite, and right and wrong often blend into one another just as black and white blend into gray. Just so our actions are merely a means of redistributing assets and authority with as much validity as any other distribution. What difference does it make if we pursue good or evil? None. Such words are meaningless because all actions are interpretable though an infinite number of world views. Who's to say ours' is any worse than any other? No man can ... " ZAAAT! *thunk*

'Dr. Strangefate' shook her head. "Sorry ... I know I'm supposed to believe in non-violence, but enough was enough. Ok, the rest of you, surrender now or face my, uh, silver daggers of light!"

And so the fray began ... Mr. A's metal armor, Mr. I's digital sight and Mr. O's flagellantism versus the agility of the two Arach-Kids and Mr. E's precognition versus the projectiles of 'Dr. Strangefate.' It lasted about two minutes.

Afterwards, when the police had been called, Hank said to Spider-Boy, "I'm grateful you're not angry at me for stealing your i.d. like that ... it was never our intention, believe me."

Spider-Boy blinked, "Stole my i.d.? Um, I was going to say the same thing to you ... you mean you're not Spider-Boy?"

Tandy looked astonished, "No, we ... " she removed her helmet, revealing the symbol on her face which concealed her identity and which manifested with her use of her powers, "I'm Dagger ... we're Hawk and Dagger, really. We were on our way to a costume part when we discovered our friend Steve, killed."

Hank scowled, "Then ... wait ... who are *you*?"

Their ally reached under his chin to pull off his mask ... and his face ... revealing an oddly greenish-tinged visage. "Call me Jack ... you may have heard of me as Nightcreeper."

Hank shook the man's hand, "If you ever need help from Hawk and Dagger, give us a call. And thank you."

Nightcreeper grinned, "Same here. Where are you two off to now?"

Hank turned to Tandy, "I don't think I feel much like partying. We have to go home and call Steve's family."

Tandy nods, "Maybe we'll run into you some time later, Jack."

Later that night, Tandy wrapped her arms around Hank as he sat on the phone with Steve's parents. "I'll be right back babe, get you a beer." He squeezed her hand gently and nodded a silent thanks.

She grabbed a bottle out of the fridge, stopping to mark the day off on the wall calendar. "Damn damn damn," she cursed softly to herself, then went back to the living room to join her lover in his grief.


	5. Conflict Builds Character

Tandy shook her head. "No."

Hank sighed, sat on the edge of the bed where Tandy was curled up. He attempted to eye the wall clock surreptitiously, and loosened his tie with an irritable motion, but kept his voice soft. "If you start getting ready now, you won't be late."

She ducked under the covers again, hiding her face. "I said no! I just can't. You know I can't."

Hank said, "I don't know. I wish you would just tell me what gets you upset like this."

Tandy curled up. "I told you and told you ... I hate running away."

Hank sighed. "Run away from what? And you won't get up to go to work, it seems like you're running away right *now* from whatever's bothering you."

Tandy bristled under the covers, screamed at him, "Shut up! That's not fair!" Involuntarily, light sparked from her body, tossing him backwards ... his superhuman reflexes allowed him to stop himself short of being slammed against the wall.

"That's a load of crap," he scowled, "I've never hit you. Do you want out, is that it?"

She curled up again, "No." She peeked out of the covers, "Though maybe you'd be better off without me. You shouldn't have to deal with all my problems all the time ... it's not fair to you."

"Let me decide what's fair to me. I ... " He was interrupted by a sudden sharp hammering at the front door. He tried to resume his line of thought but the hammering continued. He walked over to the door irritably. "For God's sake, what?"

The voice on the other side, strong though cracked with age, shouted back, "It's Mr. Garrett. Your landlord, do you remember me? You're a day late with your rent. A day late!" He continued hammering.

Hank tensed his muscles, tried to force himself to relax somewhat, and opened the door. Mr. Garrett was pounding against the door with the handle of his cane. Hank said, "I'll get you a check."

Mr. Garrett peered into the room. "What the hell is all that shouting? Always shouting" He glared at Tandy, who cringed and huddled under the blanket again. The older man turned to Hank, "Is she on drugs? Is that what's going on here? I won't have drugs in this complex you know!"

Hank handed the check over, with gritted teeth, "Here's your money. We're not taking drugs. She's just upset about something. We will try to keep the noise down." He spoke slowly, the way one does to a difficult child.

Mr. Garrett peered at the check. "Ok then. But next month, you be on time, you hear?" He turned, and stormed back down the hallway, his cane landing heavily to support his weight.

Hank glared after him, shut the door again and bolted it. "Tandy," he said, his voice soft. He walked over and sat on the edge of the bed. "Look, maybe it's just time to do something else with your life. You know I've never been happy with your working at the Federal Welfare Center. I'm sure I could find you a position at SFC, or ... "

Tandy groaned, "You know I couldn't do that. Christ, it's hard enough for me to even be with you, working for a company like that. And the people at the Welfare Center need me."

Hank said, "We've had this argument countless times, but I just don't believe that. Welfare encourages helplessness and dependence. There's a whole culture of it in America now. If places like the Welfare Center ceased to exist people would learn to work for themselves."

"We're not going to have this argument again, are we?" Tandy said. "Those people *can't* depend on themselves, not after the kinds of lives they've led. They need a hand from outside. And damn right, I think the government should be giving them that helping hand."

"Ok then," Hank smiled, "Shouldn't you be down there, then?"

Tandy got up, pulling the blanket around herself, and made her way to their bathroom. "I hate you," she said.

Hank watched her go in. "I know," he said quietly. As the bathroom door closed, he collapsed into a seated position on the side of the bed, head in his hands. "I can't believe we have to go through this again," he muttered. "I think sometimes I'd rather fight Kongzilla."

NEXT ISSUE: KONGZILLA!


	6. Kongzilla!

Asakusa District, Tokyo, Japan

The tide came in, splashing at the trio's feet, slowly washing away the giant footprint embedded in the sand. They watched the enormous figure being carted away, unconscious, by a fleet of helicopters, heading towards Dinosaur Island.

The Asian man turned to the two young Americans. "My thanks, Hawk and Dagger. Kongzilla's rampage might have been a lot more destructive had you not been here to assist me."

Hawk smiled, "It was the least we could do ... I can't imagine you have to deal with monsters like that on a regular basis!"

The man nodded, "It is difficult. I will also consider what you said ... that the name Sunfirestorm does seem excessively ... portmanteau. Perhaps I will shorten it, along the lines of ... Sunstorm? That does have a certain ring to it."

Dagger beamed. "I like it!"

Their companion chuckled, "We shall see. In the meantime, I still have much to do. Thank you again, and perhaps I will see you again before you return to America." With a shout of "Yaite yo!" he burst into flame, and soared into the Tokyo skies.

The pair, alone now, watched the flame trail as it followed the man's path through the sky. "Flashy," Hawk said. "Though I wouldn't mind being able to do that."

Dagger grinned, "We need to get you a Hawkplane, or a Hawkmobile, or something."

Hawk smirked, "Please, I'm not Dark Claw. At any rate, I think their version of the paparazzi is going to be here soon unless Sunstorm managed to distract them ... we had better get back to our hotel."

Dagger nodded, as already their uniforms had begun to fade as the crisis ended, returning them to their civilian identities of Tandy Bowan and Hank Hall. The two of them wound their way through what remained of Sumida Park.

* * *

Elmond, California, United States of America

The alarm rang for minutes before I turned it off. Every joint ached with movement. I stared out at the dismal grey sky. Wasn't California supposed to be sunny? I remember it as always being sunny when I was younger. I remember a lot of things being different when I was younger. I groaned as I got out of bed, the small of my back aching. These breasts were an asset when I was younger ... another thing that's different now.

I stumbled to the kitchen to start the coffee brewing. That's the strongest thing I dare drink. It still makes me jittery and makes my insides vibrate like a tuning fork if I have too much of it ... and not in a good way ... but it's all I have.

I made my way to the bathroom and turned on the water for the shower. The pipes clanked and rebelled but eventually I managed to get a steady stream of hot. Standing under it, washing the long hair with the streaks of white that were still my best feature, I started to feel almost alive again. Maybe I should call in sick to the library? No ... no ... my new "respectable" life is tenuous enough. It will just have to be something else I can endure.

* * *

Central Tokyo, Japan

Hank and Tandy moved quietly through the city, watching the repair crews. Tandy whispered, "How often do you suppose they have to do this?"

Hank shrugged, "I'm sure we could find out. Are you sorry you came with me?"

Tandy shook her head. "Not at all! I know what you're going to say next ... we're only able to do this because Reagan is encouraging companies to do more business with the Japanese, which is why SFC sent you here, and I'm taking advantage of that ... but let's save the arguments for later, ok?"

Hank grinned, "I won't say a word."

They continued winding through the small, unlabeled side streets, enjoy the process of getting thoroughly lost. Tandy stopped Hank suddenly, tugging on his arm. "Did you hear something?"

Hank stared at her, "What? It's an endless bustle around here."

Tandy pressed her finger to his lips, and whispered, "Dagger," a flash of silver light transforming her. Hank watched as she closed her eyes, her heightened perceptions searching through the background sounds. Small and feeble, it came to her. "Mama .... kowai, kowai" She looked at her lover, "No, it's a child, listen."

Hank whispered, "Hawk," before being transformed by a crimson light. "Where is it?"

Dagger ran through the wreckage, ignoring the points and shouts of the crowd surrounding her, Hawk following closely. "Criminey," Hawk exclaimed, "I think I found him." Dagger followed his gesture, looking up.

The toddler had managed to crawl out of a destroyed high-speed train on a rail line that Kongzilla appeared to have walked straight through. There didn't seem to be anyone alive or conscious aboard the train ... save for the child who had managed to make its way out to a ledge, where it had settled down.

Dagger bit her lip, "They can't get a helicopter to him ... the wind might blow him off. And we don't know when a rescue team might be able to get a ladder to the area

Hawk eyed the surroundings. "This is a job for Spiderboy. Or ... I wish Sunstorm were here. But I guess we're the next best thing."

Dagger nodded, "C'mon 'Next Best Thing.' Time to get back to work."

The duo clambered up the closest pylon. They decided on a two-pronged approach: Dagger would try to prompt the child to move back to her, Hawk would try to crawl up from underneath to grab the if he fell.

Hawk reached the lower edge of the railing, intending to shimmy along it, but the structure swayed dangerously. The child tottered. "Dagger," he called out, "this isn't going to support my weight."

Dagger shouted back agreement, and cursed under her breath. She raised her voice to a soothing child-speak and tried to wave to the toddler. "Come here, son, don't be afraid." The boy looked at her blankly. Dagger knelt down and tried to crawl along the railing, keeping one eye on Hawk, who was watching her nervously. The structure fell to a tilt, unable to support her weight. The toddler began to howl, frightened by the movement or her approach, and began to back away, before losing his balance.

"Hank!" she screamed.

"I'm on it!" Hawk practically ran up the side of the railing, grabbing the child as it gave way. He held on to the railing with his legs, grunting with pain as it slammed into the side of the rail tracks.

"Hank, what happened?" She tried to spy him but he was out of her view.

Hawk took a moment to answer. "I have him ... but he's driving me deaf with his screaming. And I think I broke my other arm. I can't move."

Dagger bit her lip. "I'm ... holding on to the end of the railing. It's pretty precarious and I'm afraid to let go. What do you want me to do?"

Hawk said, "Can you hoist the railing up, pull us to safety?"

Dagger strained her shoulders. "No. I'm not that strong. It's all I can do to keep it in balance."

Hawk said, "I'm out of ideas, sweetheart."

Dagger bit her lip, whispering to herself. "Think, think."

She called out to him, "I can't stay like this indefinitely, and we don't know when a rescue crew will arrive. I think I might be able to manage to get some sideways movement. How's your throwing arm?"

Hawk grimaced. "I can make it. You don't do things the easy way, do you?"

Dagger sucked in air, bracing herself for what she had to attempt next. "That's why I'm with you, lover."

Dagger rocked the railing from side to side, trying to build momentum. Hawk assisted her as best he could, swinging his body back and forth in rhythm with the railing. The woman grunted loudly with the effort, her torso aching with the strain, praying that the metal bands still tenuously connected to the railing didn't give out completely, forcing her to support the full weight.

"Catch!" The railing swung horizontal, and Hawk threw the screaming child back at Dagger, who dropped the railing and caught him. Hawk grabbed at a pole in the underside of the train track with his free arm, watching as the railing fell loose and tumbled to the street below.

He hung there for a minute, catching his breath. "Dagger?"

Dagger stroked the child's hair, soothing him. "We're okay. We're okay."

* * *

Unknown, the Greek Islands

The figures chanted slowly in the darkness.

"Combine the elements in the fire"

"An indestructible metal alloy"

"Blacken them in the fire"

"Hammer them flat"

"Flat as a cloth"

"The cloth of a cloak"

"Copper, silver, gold"

"Copper, silver, gold"


	7. Rum, Magnetism, and Whiplash

The home of Judge Hall:

Tandy rested her fork on the table, and put her head in her hands. "I can't believe you're going to quote that ridiculous 'Just Say No' rhetoric at me."

Hank pointed at Tandy, "It's not rhetoric! It's a damned good strategy ... if more kids listened to it the country wouldn't have the drug problem it has now."

Tandy scowled, "Don't point that finger at me."

Hank pulled his hand back with obvious effort. "Tandy, you're on the streets, you deal with these losers and addicts every day. You can see how many lives drugs are wrecking."

Tandy said, "Maybe if the government maintained some sort of rational strategy ... er ... no offense, Judge Hall ... "

Judge Hall chuckled, "None taken. But, I think things are getting a bit heated for the dinner table, no?" Hank looked sullen. "Hank, it's true that the Drug War rhetoric can get carried on to excess. But Tandy, it also doesn't follow that legalisation is the answer. I know you want to bring up the Netherlands as some sort of paradise, but frankly, you're idealising it. And there have been attempts such as the Italian experiment with legalisation which ended very badly. It's no panacea. So let's discuss something else ... in fact, this all reminds me of a current case that was brought to my attention."

Hank sat straight up, "Oh? Please tell us about it, Dad." Tandy sighed; she could see he was eager to jump into action. She buried herself in her food, occupying her thoughts by stripping bits of baked chicken off the bone and mixing it up in the bed of long grain white rice, spearing some chicken and a small bit of onion with her fork before taking a bite.

Judge Hall took a bite of his lettuce salad. "Actually, it involves an old friend of ours, Boss Dargo." Even Tandy looked alert at the mention of that name, and her eyes caught Hank's intently. "The Coast Guard had pulled in some men who appeared to be rum running ... importing liquor and avoiding customs fees. The shipment came to our attention as part of our investigation into Dargo's illegal activities ... but it turned out they weren't smuggling rum at all."

Hank blinked, "Narcotics?"

Judge Hall shook his head, "No. Electronic equipment. We're still not sure what it was meant to be used for. It appeared to be some sort of containment device. But what on Earth would Boss Dargo need something like that for?"

Tandy furrowed her brow. Maybe Hank was right just this once.

* * *

Edmond Central Library:

741.

741.5

741.567

I leaned against the cart as I slid another book onto the library shelf. The constant repetition had caused that knot to return at the base of my right shoulder blade. I think I've had that pain constantly for months now.

My vision started to blur and I couldn't read the numbers on the spines anymore. I paused in my reshelving, closed my eyes tight and shook my head, fighting to stay awake on the job. The mental repetition was as unbearable as the physical.

I heard laughter, and opened my eyes to spy two of the teenaged library interns in the process of pointedly averting their gaze from me. I knew what they were saying. "Gypsy." "Acid Queen."

Sometimes I wish ... I wish ...

* * *

Controller's cabin, Whitko Airfield:

Antimony gleamed like platinum in the harsh reflected light..

Antimony screamed, an unnatural sound, from a throat not constructed for such.

Doctor Whiplash coiled his whip back into his hand. "Now, you'll be a good little mechanical slut and not try to escape again?"

Jacosta wrapped her shining arms protectively around her companion. "What are you doing to us? You can't expect to hold us here forever, you know. The Magnetic Men will come looking ..."

Doctor Whiplash laughed cruelly, "By the time they get to Elmond, we'll all be long gone. There's quite a market for lovely mechanical sluts such as yourselves. I don't see the appeal myself. But my unique metallic electrolash can generate magnetic impulses which your mechanical bodies read as pain ... so I was given the job of, shall we say, improving you two lovely lady's attitudes towards your prospective buyers. And some jobs, once resigned to, can be a source of a great degree of ... personal satisfaction."

As if to prove his point, he flicked the whip out again, striking Antimony's thigh, causing her to scream again.

He drew his arm back again, but his intent was spoiled by a loud crash. "Now _that_ doesn't look very consensual."

Doctor Whiplash whirled around. "Well well, the little birdie and the little utensil. Very cute." Without missing a beat, his whip snapped towards Hawk, the magnetic charge dragging with it several rebars from a corner of the room. Hawk used his arms to shield himself, but was nearly driven back against the shattered window. "Ugh ... Dagger ... take care of the hostages ... I'll handle the bad guy."

Dagger didn't say a word, but edged away towards the pair of robots. "Come," she whispered, and attempted to aid Antimony and Jacosta out the door. She hadn't gotten very far when a line of electric fire coursed across her back. Her body arched, and she fell to her knees.

Doctor Whiplash scowled, "That wasn't very clever. Don't touch the merchandise."

Hawk took advantage of the man's distraction to wrap one of the rebars around Doctor Whiplash's throat, pulling him back. The man made a strangled choking noise. "You're the type who gives perverts a bad name.:

Doctor Whiplash snapped the whip between his hands, and the rebar was flung from Hawk's grip. The man grabbed Hawk's arm and flung him forward. "That's a stupid tactic, pretty boy." Hawk landed easily, and crouched, the two of them eyeing each other warily.

Hawk leaped sideways, Doctor Whiplash striking out, just missing as Hawk tumbled into a roll. He slammed deliberately into a wooden table, snapping off one of its legs, causing it to collapse. He tossed the rest of the table at Doctor Whiplash, whose weapon shattered it into an explosion of splinters. "Nice try prettyboy, but my electrolash is made of one of the harder substances known to man ... coming at me with a baseball bat isn't going to help you." He ducked as Hawk came swinging at him with the table leg, and shattered it with a flick of his wrist. "As we see."

Doctor Whiplash smiled cruelly. "On the other hand ... furniture nails can come in really handy." He started to whirl the whip around his head, and nails from the shattered table flew up to him and started to orbit with his whip, gathering speed. He drew the whip back, and the weapon was struck by a burst of white light. Dagger stood, hands glowing. "Need any help in here?" she glanced at Hawk.

The nails clattered to the ground. Doctor Whiplash scowled, "Do you think I *need* those tricks to take care of you?" His hand moved like lightning, the center catching Dagger full in the belly. She recoiled, rolling along with the force of the strike, diffusing its energy. Doctor Whiplash barely readied again when he felt Hawk's strong hand on his arm. "That's enough." Doctor Whiplash's retort was silenced by Hawk's other hand in the shape of a fist.

Hawk said, "Are you ok?"

Dagger made her way over. "Yeah ... the Magnetic Men will be here soon. It's time for us to be gone." She knelt down, disconnecting Doctor Whiplash's electrical equipment and binding his wrists with his lash.

The two of them wandered back to their car and headed home,

"You're sure you're okay?" Hank asked. "That was a nasty blow to the belly you took."

Tandy squeezed his arm. "I rolled with it ... it startled me but it was really glancing. I'm more concerned about you ... you're the one who did most of the fighting."

Hank grinned teasingly, "It hurt less than some of the things you've done with a whip."

Tandy started to laugh so hard she almost drove off the road. "Don't do that when I'm driving!" She regained control and leaned over to kiss his cheek lightly. "Pervert."  
Hank smiled broadly. "Well ... yeah? Your point being?"

Tandy grinned. "Nothing. I love you, is all."

"I love you too," Hank said. "Huh, that's odd."

Tandy blinked. "That I love you?"

Hank said, "No ... it looks like a bunch of hornets landed on our windshield when we were driving ... they didn't splat. Guess they grow 'em tough out here."

Tandy said, "Yuck," and started to turn on the windshield wiper, when the wasps exploded, shattering the windshield, the sound covering up her scream.

The car slid off the road. Hawk kicked open the door. "Tandy??"

Dagger got out. "I managed to protect myself in time. What the hell just happened?"

A swarm of hornets flew past them, landing on the car. Another explosion, the car blowing up with them. Hawk and Dagger ran for cover.

"So, there you are, I've finally tracked you down," said a voice. The pair looked up, to see a man standing, bracing himself on a flying metal platform. Around the platform flew in formation, dozens of golden metallic hornets. "Know too that you will not escape my vengeance."

Hank blinked at the unfamiliar face.. "Vengeance?" He turned to Dagger, "Is he some old sparring partner of yours, love?"

"No," she said solemnly. "He's my husband."

And in the shadows behind their assailant's eyes, for those who knew how to look, the spirit of Hephaestus laughed and laughed and laughed.


	8. Auld Acquaintance

"He's your husband?"

As the flying, golden platform swooped and soared, Jonathan Scott McMann moved awkwardly, shifting himself hand to hand along the outer metal railing. Around his spindled legs ran a pair of golden metallic homunculi, supporting him when he gestured or swung over to the weapons control platform. A swarm of metal hornets circled around the platform in complex formations.

He gestured now, and a pair of hornets detached from the swarm and, following the direction of his movement, flew at Dagger. Her eyes widened, and at the last minute she jumped and ducked, the resulting explosion destroying what was left of their car.

"Johnny, please, this isn't right."

"Don't talk to me about what's right, you little slut." The platform hovered closer. "I picked you up off the streets and gave you more than you ever thought you'd have, how do you repay me? You run off with your little stud here."

Dagger cringed. Hawk eyed her reactions and leapt up, hands catching the base of the platform, and lifted himself inside. "Johnny ... whatever your name is ... please let's try to talk this out."

McMann laughed roughly, "This is none of your business, red. It's between me and Tandy. I think you should fly off back to your little nest and leave a man and his wife to talk about their own affairs."

Hawk sighed, "I wish I could do that," and lunged at McMann, only to be intercepted by the homunculi which attached themselves to his throat and his legs. Hawk struggled with them, but the creatures forced him back until he dived off the platform in an attempt to escape. They immediately disconnected from him and returned to support their creator.

Dagger cried, "Johnny, don't hurt him, please. He doesn't know anything about us. It's all my fault. If you're angry, take it out on me."

"I intend to ... don't think I haven't forgotten all your little tricks and games." He waved his arm in a sweeping gesture, and a row of hornets swarmed towards Dagger. In terror, she somersaulted out of the way, a series of small explosions following her path as they hit the ground. "Very good. I see you picked up some athletic skills since you started parading about in that ludicrous outfit. Did you really think I wouldn't recognise you behind a mask? I knew you were in Elmond the first time I saw a news report about 'Hawk and Dagger.'"

Hawk stood between the two of them, attempting to shield Dagger as she looked from left to right frantically, eyeing possible avenues of escape, cursing the wreck that used to be their car. "Johnny, this is ending, now. I don't know what you're talking about with 'tricks and games' and I don't care. I'm not going to let you come here and brutalise Tandy. We can ... we can try to talk about this like adults."

McMann leaned down over the metal railing. "Ohh yes, adultery is very 'adult.' I don't know what the little slut told you about her past, but she obviously lied to you ... she lies a lot, you know."

Hawk turned his head and looked at Dagger, keeping one eye on the hovering platform. "She hasn't told me a whole lot about her past, actually," he said.

Dagger winced, "Hank ... "

"This isn't the time," Hawk said softly, making a dismissing motion with his hand, "but there's a limit to what I can do here."

She nodded, slowly, "I know, you're right. You're always right" She drew forward. "Jonathan ... I'm not your property or your pet. I'm sorry I hurt you but you can't just hunt me down."

McMann tightened his muscles as he listened to the couple exchange words. "No? I think you said something to me once about for better or for worse, in sickness and in health ... " Hawk winced at this " ... and so you owe me. You. Owe. Me."

Dagger nodded, "Yeah, I promised all that stuff ... and you promised to cherish me. Not a lot of *that* happened when we were together, either."

"I cherished you," his voice was strangled with anger, "more than you deserved."

Dagger hissed, "You got a funny way of showing it, Mister."

"As I said ... you got everything you deserved. So I'll give you one last chance to come with me, unless you prefer to stay and spread your legs for your little stud?"

Dagger replied with a list of obscenities. McMann just shook his head, "Still the dirty-minded tramp I remember. I thought you'd learned better language while you were with me."

Hawk said, "Okay ... that's it," and leapt towards the platform again. McMann flicked a finger at him contemptuously, and a hornet imbedded itself in Hawk's shoulder. Dagger howled, and quickly pulled the hornet out, attempting to pitch it back at the platform. The hornet arced and turned back towards the pair, and Dagger exploded it with a burst of light from her hands.

McMann said, "Ah, so you did learn something new after all. Very well then, let's play your game." Like an orchestra conductor, he waved his arms, the hornets following each motion, altering their flight paths into terrifying and intricate formations. From every direction they swooped down on the pair, Dagger frantically exploding them as they come near.

Hawk took advantage of the smoke and confusion and tried to sneak around the back of the platform. McMann was focused on his target, though one of his automatons operated automatically. Dumb machine, Hawk thought, grabbing it with his good hand and using his greater leverage to toss it over the side of the platform.

McMann whirled around to respond to the intrusion. As the barrage against Dagger ceased, she heard sirens as the local police responded to the tumult caused by the struggle. "Hawk, the cops ... the car!" she cried out.

"Holy crap," he muttered ... that sort of identification they didn't need. He lunged towards the platform's control panel. McMann and the remaining automaton wrestled against him, and as Dagger saw him losing ground she aimed a series of blasts against the platform's base, trying to bring it down.

McMann felt the tilt. "You ... you whore!" he burst out, but Hawk finally pitched the other automaton overboard. Pushing McMann aside, he guided the platform so it crashed into their car. "Hawk ... get out of there! Get him out of there!"

Hawk looped his good arm around the other by the throat, and dragged him out. Dagger whispered a prayer and threw a bolt of light at their gas tank ... exploding both vehicles.

The pair stood in the red, flickering light. McMann lay unconscious at their feet.

"Hank," she whispered as the police arrived to surround the scene, "what are we going to do?"

"I don't know, sweetheart," he said sadly, "I don't know."

* * *

APPENDIX:  
Jonathan Scott McMann = Johnny Mann/Son of Vulcan + Scotty McDowell/The Hornet


	9. More Songs About Buildings And Food

Tandy placed the cup of hot chocolate on the table in front of the girl. She appeared to be about 12, small for her age, with medium-length blonde hair. Her jeans and sneakers were expensive but looked scuffed, and she wore a too-large man's shirt which she appeared to be trying to hide in.

Archie sat on the edge of the table and folded his arms, "Susan? We can't help you if you won't talk to us."

The girl glared at him, "Not Susan. Suzy-Michelle." She reached for the cup and curled around it in the big easy chair she had been slumped in.

Tandy nodded slowly, consulting a small file folder. "That's right," she said, and laid the file flat on the table, tilting it slightly so Archie could see it, "Suzy-Michelle Starrling. Would you like to talk to us about the accident, Suzy-Michelle?"

The girl shook her head, curling her hands around the cup to sip it like a squirrel with a nut. Tandy spoke quietly, "You know, we think your parents may still be alive. There were no bodies found in the crash. Would you like to tell us about the crash? Anything we learn could be helpful ... maybe it would even help us find your parents."

Suzy-Michelle looked up and glared at Tandy, a flash of sudden anger in her clear blue eyes, "I told them at the hospital more than once, my parents are dead. It doesn't matter what you say."

Archie sighed a little ... this wasn't even his job. "Yes, well, the hospital. That's another thing. You can't stay there indefinitely, Suzy-Michelle. That's why we came here to talk to you. You've said that you don't have any relatives to contact, so we're going to have to find someone to take you in."

The girl sat up quickly. "Why can't I stay there? I, um, I know people there. I mean, people know where to find me. I'm not any trouble."

Tandy peered at the girl, tilting her head to the side in a curious motion. "Who knows where to find you?"

Suzy-Michelle looked nervous, "Just ... people. Nobody, I guess, really."

Tandy looked up at Archie, who shrugged. She made a steeple with her fingers and rested her chin on it. "If you've made friends with any of the nurses there, or any of the other kids in your unit, that's fine. We'll make sure they know how to contact you."

The girl muttered, "It's not the same. It doesn't matter. Nothing matters."

Archie folded his arms. "We've found a very nice older couple, Silas and Marthe Hudson, who have agreed to take you in. They've looked after a lot of kids your age, I think you'll get along with them real well."

"Fine," Suzy-Michelle said sullenly.

Afterwards, the two social workers headed out to the coffee machine in the hospital waiting room. "I hate this shift," Archie complained.

Tandy grimaced at the vending machine coffee. "I just find anything that gets me out of that office is something to look forward to." She sat on a ledge by the window and stared outside, squinting a little as her eyes adjusted to the sunlight. She looked past the city streets with their cars rushing about their interminable errands. The sun had burnt off most of the morning fog, but a thin mist still lay atop parts of the city, adding a romantic soft focus over the urban areas and obscuring the details of the mountain ranges in the background, turning them into a jagged frame for the city. A white bird flew into view, diving down into the range of visibility of the window.

"Hey Tandy," Archie said softly, "how are things going with the boyfriend?"

The bird arced low, and then regained altitude, its wings shining silver in the light. Eventually it caught an updraft, and arced higher, is wings outspread, a small shining shape soaring into the horizon, eventually disappearing from view.

"Tandy?"

* * *

"Gypsy."

"Acid Queen."

The two library interns watched the grey-haired woman out of the corner of their eyes.

"I can't believe that stuck-up bitch. Just because she used to get her name in the papers she thinks she's too good to talk to us."

"No kidding. Hey," he opened his palm to reveal a small cube, wrapped in colored paper. "Want to have some fun?"

* * *

Hank drove home, mentally going over the shopping list and the meal for tonight. Taco chips, for the base; tomatoes, ground turkey, chili's, onions, for the filler; cheese, avocados, sour cream for the topping. Almonds, cream cheese, sour cream for the dessert, and there must be some fruit in the house. He actually hoped Tandy would be up to cooking tonight, but he knew she was working extra today because she had the hospital shift. Given how stressful she found her job usually, he was always dubious about her decisions to volunteer for even more of it.

He grumbled to himself, running through arguments in his head again. Finally he pulled over in front of his house. He walked around to the back of the car to get the groceries from the trunk. On his way up the steps to the front door, he trod carefully ... last thing he needed was Mr. Garrett complaining about the noise again. He wondered how Tandy could stand it.

Hank entered quietly, depositing the plastic bags of food in the kitchen. "Hey Tandy, I'm home." As he passed the bedroom something caught his eye ... odd. He walked over and peered through the doorway, furrowing his brow at the ransacked closet and the open, empty shelves which comprised half the dresser.

"Tandy?"


	10. Paris is a State of Mind

Hawk ignored the pain in his shoulder blades as he caught the handguard of the fire escape mid-leap, and swung his body around to push himself onto the roof of the building across the narrow street. He wished that when he stopped moving, the pain would go away, but it never did. He carried it with him all these ... was it months? years? since Tandy left him.

She always told him she dreamed of going to Paris. He told her you don't have to go to Paris to fall in love. Maybe she had been right. Where did you run away to now, Tandy? Where are you? Why?

His eyes scanned the streets below, looking for crime. He paused to catch his breath, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. It was rough. Hadn't he shaved this morning? He knows they're talking about him at his job now, the way he looks, the way he's been snapping at his co-workers. Or he knows because his supervisor asked him to come to her office and speak to her in her worried tone. He had managed to bind his rage into a little ball and put it somewhere deep inside, enough to speak in a civil tone and explain, no, he was all right, no, he didn't need time off, yes, he thanks her for understanding that he's been under stress and yes, he will attempt to not take it out on his fellow employees. He reached into the utility belt at his hip and took another swallow of scotch. That always dulled the pain at least a little. Not enough.

He leapt to the next rooftop and the next, and grinned as he saw a dealer finishing up a sale. Where are you now, liberal run-off-on-me bitch, watch this, you'll love it. He dropped down, caught the edge of a windowpane with his fingertips just to slow his descent, and pushed himself off to land in front of the dealer, grinning madly. He gave the guy just enough time to focus his eyes, and see what was going to happen, before he hit him several times in the jaw with a series of left hooks and then a roundhouse right which sent him crashing into a pile of trash cans.

Hawk whirled as he heard a sound behind him. The creep had friends! Good, good. He grabbed the closest one by the arm, pulling him forward and slamming his knee into the man's pelvis, then kicking him hard into the belly to send him flying back into one of the other attackers. Hawk's ears rang as a gun discharged, winging him in the arm. He barely felt it, and laughed at the expression on the face of the gunman as he leapt over and grabbed the gun-hand, and laughed again as the man screamed when he crushed the bones in his wrist. One more, one more ... he didn't really think Hawk would just let him run away? Hawk did a flying tackle, flooring him. Let's see, he thought, something just for variety's sake ... he slammed his elbow into the man's ribs, listening for the tell-tale snap.

Hawk eyed the figures groaning in pain beneath him. Almost, almost enough. He took another swallow of scotch, cursing as the bottle came up empty, and threw it so that it shattered an inch from the face of one of the dealers. He scrambled up the fire escape and pushed himself up on the nearby roof.

He started a run, but something caught his ankle and he fell forward, catching the momentum with a roll and he came back up on his feet, turning around swiftly. There on the rooftop was a powerfully built man wearing a purple outfit of intricate design, carrying a fighting staff, which he held in a relaxed stance. "Salutations, Peregrine," the figure said in heavily-accented English, "You may call me Batroc, Batroc zee Terminator. I 'ave been 'ired by a man who feels zat you have put a dent in 'is buziness ... and watching zee display below, I see zat you are truly a man wizout honair and deserve no mercy."

"One of Boss Dargo's lackeys, Frenchie? Don't talk to me about 'honair'", Hawk sneered. He flew at his attacker who quickly sidestepped and slammed him on the side of the head with the staff. Batroc pressed the staff against Hawk's throat. "I am at maximum 'uman strength and speed, and use 90% of my brain capacity, being supremely trained in every weapon known to man. You 'ad best surrendair."

Hawk caught the end of the staff in his right hand, and pushed it just high enough to turn his head to the side. "Just 90% Frenchie?" He swung a leg around, sweeping Batroc off his feet, yanking the staff from his grip and snapping it over his knee.

Batroc drew his sidearm, a Heckler & Koch USP .40 caliber, and fired it at Hawk. Hawk blocked it with half the staff, which shattered in his hand. "Sacre bleu! Such speed ... such powair! It ees beyond belief! Navair has such a thing happened before!"

Hawk picked up the intact half-staff and flung the ragged edge at Batroc's hand, knocking the gun out of his grip. "Get used to it."

Batroc growled, "Nom du chien, zey did not inform me zis one was a superhuman ... but you 'ave yet to fight zee most skilled battler of all to zee standstill." He reached behind him to draw his saber. "Enough of zese games."

"Yes, enough."

Hawk whirled into Batroc's attack. The saber flashed, a line of blood appeared across Hawk's chest. Hawk blocked a killing swing and Batroc leapt up, slamming Hawk in the chest with his feet. He leapt again into a series of savate kicks which left Hawk dazed. Another kick flattened him onto his back

Batroc readied a killing stroke, but Hawk surprised him, rolling out of the way and elbowing his opponent in the side. His opponent tried to roll with it, and Hawk slammed him in the head. Batroc attempted to gut Hawk but the latter took his swordarm and, two-handed, slammed it down into the ground.

Hawk took up the saber, now lying on the rooftop. Batroc smiled bitterly, "So ... end it now, Peregrine." Hawk shattered the saber against the concrete of the roof, and began punching at Batroc, again and again, past the point of consciousness. The assassin's blood pooled about his head.

Hawk finally ceased, and looked down at his unconscious foe. Almost, almost enough.


	11. Nobody Knows the Monkeys I've Seen

Vince Garrett limped slowly down the street, leaning heavily on his cane. He peered up at the grey sky, the damp and the chill further aggravating his knee. He scowled and pulled his coat tighter around himself. He grumbles to himself about his tenant, Hank Hall ... his girlfriend runs out on him ... no surprise ... and the lad acts like a spoiled child. At least things are quieter with her gone.

Garrett decided to cut through the park to get to his destination. He immediately regretted his error as he as nearly bowled over by a crowd of screaming, running children. He managed to plant his cane firmly on the ground and stop himself from falling. He stood up and shook his cane at them angrily, little monsters!

He looked back to the street. It was probably quieter there, but he was already halfway through the park. He sighed heavily and continued on, trying to enjoy the scenery. He grunted as he heard more screaming. And turned to see a small boy, maybe eight years old, bedeviled by a bee, which seemed to be hovering around him. The child batted at the insect in a panic.

Garrett's face softened slightly. He knelt down, and held out his finger. The bee obligingly settled on it. "Away now little one," he said, "there's nothing here for you." The bee flew off, and the boy gazed at Garrett, eyes wide in astonishment. Garrett winked at him and continued on his way.

Eventually he made his way across to the street to a familiar brownstone. He knocked at the door. It was soon opened by a gentleman who appeared to be a few years older than he. "Schlagholz," Garrett said, greeting his old friend by name.

"Garrett, good, you are on time," Schlagholz said, in his heavy German accent. "Please come in."

Garrett entered and looked around the small, sparse apartment. He found the chair which was his familiar place, and waited while Schlagholz brought in some beer from the kitchen. He picked up the paper lying aside him, something about Dark Claw battling some peculiar grinning villain, the Hyena. Garrett showed it to his host as he returned, "Still reading about this stuff? I thought you had left it behind you long ago."

Schlagholz sighed, "The photo caught my eye. That grinsen ... grinning fellow ... his face is almost familiar. Actually, he reminds me of Gwynplaine. Did I ever tell you about him?"

Garrett shook his head, "Please do."

Schlagholz settled down next to his guest and sipped at his beer. "The was very early on, when I had first become the Owl Pirate, long before I was a member of Gerechtigskeit Verein des Deutschland ... or Battle-Axis Amerika as you Yanks insisted on calling us. I believe you had not even become Blue Jacket yet, though I may be wrong."

Garrett said, "That would have been '44?"

Schlagholz nodded, "Yes, yes, long before then, this was in the late 30's. Ah, I recall the GVD headquarters so well, occupying the 5th floor of the Hotel Atlantis. I recall the door always being opened for you by a bewhiskered porter, resplendent in his braided uniform and visored cap ... I wonder whatever happened to him?"

Garrett smiled indulgently, "He would have aged, as have we all."

Schlagholz said, "Yes, yes, actually he was rather old at the time, and I believe ran into some problems ... anyway, I ramble. On with the story. Gwynplaine, disguised as Hugo Balling, had gone to the Folies Bergeres in order to meet Immanuel Rath, a wealthy man about town. On stage Lola Cesare, Gwynplaine's mistress and agent who also went by the name Blue Angel, performed an erotic dance. Rath observed the performance in his box, unaware that he was being hypnotised. Later that evening Gwynplaine accompanied Rath, now hypnotised, to a Spielklub ... a gambling club ... where he cheated the young man at cards."

Garrett chuckled, "Sounds like a ploy that Doc and Shady Lady ... two of my old foes ... might have attempted."

Schlagholz nodded, "It was a standard trick of theirs ... I had been pursuing the case for quite some time. A few days later I visited Rath, under the suspicion that Gwynplaine was the man who cheated him. Rath agreed to cooperate with me while occupied with amorous thoughts of the exotic Blue Angel."

Garrett looked reflective, "Ah, the femmes fatale of the era ... I'm sure I wouldn't have blamed Rath."

Schlagholz grinned, "I never did either, though ... well ... my attention was quite elsewhere at the time. But I was on the case. Eventually I, myself disguised, confronted Gwynplaine in a Spielklub, but successfully resisted the power of his hypnotic gaze. Gwynplaine fled the club but was resolved to destroy me and young Rath. Rath was murdered outside Das Petit Casino by one of Gwynplaine's agents. I had my friend, Chief Inspector von Wenck, jail Blue Angel as an accessory, but she refused to reveal the identity of her evil employer and lover. Later, she committed suicide in the belief that she had been deserted by Gwynplaine."

Garrett tutted regretfully, "How sad. One would have hoped she could have been saved. And to lose Rath as well ... it sounds awful."

Schlagholz nodded, "It was. And it got worse. Gwynplaine kidnapped my son, who at the time assisted me as Fledermaus, and who was aiding me in the investigation. In an effort to destroy me Gwynplaine, disguised as Professor Weltmann, a psychoanalyst, hypnotised me at a public lecture and commanded me to drive the Eulemobile off an embankment, but I was saved at the last moment by von Wenck. Gwynplaine had meanwhile removed Fledermaus to his headquarters, where I managed to track him down. Gwynplaine's accomplices were arrested and his secret hideout was wiped out, but Gwynplaine managed to escape via the sewer tunnels. However, I thought I had tracked him down to Das Wachsfigurenkabinett: -- the Waxworks at the end of town -- famed for its collection of human-sized wax figures, detailing some of the greatest villains of mankind's history: the Caliph 'Haroun-al-Raschid,' the mad Czar 'Ivan the Terrible,' the magician 'Rinaldo Rinaldini', the mass murderer 'Jack the Ripper', the magician 'Cagliostro', and the vampire 'Nosferatu'."

Garrett sits on the edge of his seat, "The game's afoot, then!"

Schlagholz frowned, "It was a terrible battle of wills. Gwynplaine used his hypnotism and his skill with disguise to make me believe the wax figures had come alive in a series of terrifying tableux. Fortunately Fledermaus was able to free himself, and distract Gwynplaine long enough for me to snap out of it. One of the many occasions in which I owed the boy my life. Ah, anyway, I lose my train of thought. By the end, Gwynplaine had gone quite mad, and was locked away in Dr. Caligari's asylum ... but Caligari is a story for another time."

Garrett reflected, "I think I remember the name ... he came to America once? Using the name Craig Ila, he perplexed many of us in an intrigue in which it seemed the Vice-President had been killed. This was during the war, of course."

Schlagholz looked morose, and emptied his stein of beer, going to the kitchen to pour himself another one. He returned, carrying a small box. "My son died just a few years later, battling some Americans ... the All-Star Winners Squadron, I believe, or the Judgement Society Invaders ... I could never keep them straight in all their ridiculous titles."

Garrett sighed, "I never could either. And yes, you told me about Fledermaus, my friend. It is a terrible thing to lose one's child."

Schlagholz nodded, "Yes, it is. Fortunately, I now have the means to do something about that."

Garrett quirked an eyebrow. "I'm not sure I understand."

Schlagholz lay the box on the table in front of them. "You have been such a friend to me, I wanted you to witness this. A way to make all our dreams come true." He opened the box. "The Monkey's Paw!"

Garrett felt his blood turned to ice. "Schlagholz ... no ... I have heard of that thing ... you can't do what you're intending. Bring your son back? With that? It can't be done ... the price ... "

Schlagholz said, "Bah, the price? Compared to what I have suffered? The price is nothing."

Garrett shook his head, "There is always a price with the Monkey's Paw ... and it is always too high to pay. Please, my friend, let your son rest in peace."

Schlagholz took hold of the object, an ordinary little paw, dried to a mummy. "I have had no peace these years ... he deserves his second chance. We all do. You said that to me yourself, when you spoke up for me at Nuremberg, testifying that I had never been involved in the atrocities." He closed his eyes. "I wish ... I wish my son was returned to me!"

Silence.

There was a knock at the door. Garrett caught his breath. Schlagholz's eyes lit with joy. The latter got up, and opened the door, there to see a boy of about 13. The lad wore a blue bodysuit and grey shorts, gloves, and boots, with the upper part of his face hidden behind a grey mask which left his red hair free. "Vater?" the lad looked up into Schlagholz's face, appearing confused, doubtless by Schlagholz's advanced age.

"Ja, mein kind, ja!," the man knelt to embrace his son.

"Sterb!" the child said, drawing back his lips to reveal pointed incisors. He lunged for Schlagholz's throat.

Schlagholz lay paralyzed. Garrett sat in shock, then cursed to himself, wishing his old ally Ensign Jack was present, he was always the specialist in vampires. He moved as quickly as he could and grabbed hold of the boy's jaws, attempting to pry them open. The creature was unmovable. "Damnit Schlagholz," Garrett growled, "I didn't walk all this way to watch you die ... help me!"

Slowly, Schlagholz came out of his shock. He added his hands to Garrett's and slowly the child's grip loosened. Fledermaus lashed out, one hand striking Garrett in the ribs. The man felt the fragile bones crack and gasped for breath, even as the vampire fled, flying across the room to crouch in one far corner, hissing.

Schlagholz clutched a handkerchief to his throat. It came away red. He turned to his friend, "I'm sorry, so sorry ... that's not my son, is it? I see that now."

Garrett nodded, "It's just a creation of the Monkey's paw and it will kill us if it can." He hoped what he was saying was true, and there really was nothing of the original Fledermaus in this ghastly creature. "We have to fight it."

"It's been so long .. " The creature lunged at Schlagholz again and Garrett tried to block it, fighting the pain shooting through his body and stabbing with his cane. The weapon was brushed away contemptuously. Schlagholz dived, well-conditioned reflexes coming to the fore. The creature landed to his side, reaching for his throat again. Schlagholz raised his arms, attempting to block the clutching hands. "Garrett," he cried out, "A key ... my keychain ... the cabinet under the telephone ... "

Garrett limped over to where he knew his friend was indicating, found the keychain and moved as quickly as he could to assist the man. He tossed the keys to the side and wrapped his cane around the child's throat and pulled hard, attempting to pry him off. The creature released its grip on Schlagholz's throat turned to Garrett, as if truly noticing him for the first time. "Sie sterben!" it hissed, and clawed at him. Schlagholz gasped for breath and cursing. "I think it broke my hip." He fumbled for the keys, and crawled over to a large chest that sat in front of the sofa he and Garrett had been sitting at.

"Schlagholz, this had better be fast," Garrett urged as the creature buffeted him down to his knees. The older man's hands trembled, but he finally unlocked the chest, pushing the top open. Their beer steins clattered to the floor. Schlagholz reached inside, pulling out a large, bundled package which he clutched to his chest.

"Come here creature ... come here monster," he called out. Fledermaus whirled around, smiling in a ghastly manner. "Vater, nicht lieben Sie mich?" it said, and flew to the man. Garrett watched, smearing away blood from a wound on his forehead which obscured his vision.

Fledermaus landed on his father, and there was an explosion of fire. Schlagholz held fiercely onto the rocket pack as it burned through its wrapping and slammed him against the floor. The creature screamed and burned, "Vati, Vati, es verletzt!"

"Kill it, kill it," Schlagholz shouted. Garrett threw himself forward, thrusting the point of his wooden cane into the creature's heart. The two men watched as it burned to ash. Schlagholz drew himself forward and whispered to his friend, "I know what we must do. It's mouth ... we must stuff its mouth with garlic, and sew the lips shut. The head must be buried at a crossroads."

Garrett nodded, "I know a young man, a tenant of mine, who can help us. Schlagholz ... how are you?"

Schlagholz glared at the other. "How do you think?"

* * *

I feel the slow pulse from the back of my head as it comes to the fore. I hope I don't have another migraine tonight. I manage to slide the now-empty pushcart back into its place and make my way to the library break room. Caffeine might help.

The smell of the stale coffee make my lips curl involuntarily. At least it's still hot. I drop into a seat at one of the round tables before I'm interrupted by one of the interns. He can't manage something in the periodicals. What do they teach these children? I try to put on a helpful face and let him take me to the periodical section, I know it must look ghastly.

After too long, my head throbbing, I return to my coffee. Cold, of course. I put it into the microwave for a minute ... at this point it will hardly harm the taste. The interns are together again, looking at me out of the corners of their eyes and sniggering. I try to ignore them and sip the coffee.

Hmm ... sweet.

* * *

An invaluable resource in devising the flashback sequence was Frederick Ott's wonderful book _The Great German Films_.


	12. The Mind Must Learn to Roam

Hmm ... sweet.

I finish the coffee . The headache's gone for the first time since I can remember. My muscles relax as if a great weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I set the coffee down with the rest of the full dinner set, on the table which isn't a table any more, it's a great bed, sixty feet long. I tell myself ... this isn't happening. The sweetness in the coffee ... had someone slipped me something? It's hard to focus, it's been so long since I've been free of pain that all I want to do is sleep.

I stretch out on the bed, sliding across the silk sheets. I can see through the other chairs across the break room as if they were made out of the finest crystal. Of course, they are crystal ... crystal pedestals lined along the bed as decorations. The interns and the other co-workers curl up into distorted, dwarfish creatures, each trapped within a harp resting atop the pedestals. They stay as still as statues, the harps holding them in place. Climbing vines surround the pedestals and the dwarves desperately try to burn it off, using the lighted candelabras they hold.

The scent of garbage assails me, as the contents of the trash bins around the library floor coalesce into an immense green monster. It reaches up and cracks the skulls of the dwarves like they were nuts. The monster smiles at me in the most amiable way possible and I scream in fear at the sight of the carnage, my scream choked off in my throat by the smell. I can barely breath.

Suddenly in the middle of carnage, I am blinded and deafened as thunder and lightning begin inside the room. A squall of wind blows the pedestals over as well as the dinner set off where it lay on the bed, and brings in a whirl of dry leaves, which stick to everything. The dwarves and the monster crash to the ground.

I open an umbrella to hide from the creature, and it begins to rain torrentially. Although the monster shows surprise, it continues cracking the skulls of the dwarves, now dining on them. As the rain increases the monster dissolves back into garbage, being washed away along with the mangled corpses of the dwarves. The remaining dwarves rush off in all directions, while from the hall a torrent of water rushes in, bringing with it furniture and debris washed in from the other rooms, including a drowned unicorn which I recognise from a mural some children from the day care center had painted there one day. As the bodies of the children float by I reach for them desperately. Some are caught clinging on to the harps, others are carried away. I can barely hear over the sound of the water the piteous screams of an infant, but I can not reach its cradle as the flood carries it by, and its mother, face down in the water with her hair streaming behind her, is too late to help.

Unable to bear the grief, I surrender to the onrush of water. I am buffeted by the debris and the walls and doorways as I am washed from room to room. The flood only raises higher. Finally there is no more room, I crash in front of a wall which I see is a giant mirror, and I see myself ... the Acid Queen ... twenty years younger, with long black hair, the black minidress with white detailing ... no, that isn't me, I left that all behind. I scream again, hammering my fists against the mirror which finally shatters, the glass shards tearing at my skin as the water washes me through to the outside.

My eyes are blurred with red. Blood pours down my face from the cutting glass, I try to wipe it away but there is still red, talons tearing at me. Birds surround me, tearing and screaming. I cry like a child, beating at them with my fists until they lay broken before me.

* * *

The tall woman stands above him, energy crackling from her mind, having easily rebuffed his attack. The university library is shattered from the inside as water continues to pour out, the students and library employees drowned corpses washed into the street, some of them twisted into nearly unrecognisable shapes. Hawk struggles to maintain consciousness.


	13. Giraffes on Horseback Salads

Meanwhile, it is time for a great celebration: the Acid Queen has returned. I place my fingers to my temples and shockwaves flow out like waves from a stone dropped in the center of a pond. The sensations ripple through me, taking with them all the pain and tension that have built up within me these long years. Free of pain, free of fear, I start to relax. I look around, and four acres of land are cleared away, buildings are torn down and everything is flattened out into a desert landscape; the new stillness within me is matched by my surroundings. The people are unharmed, my new calm allowing me kindness and compassion. Most of the rubble that is cleared away by the shockwaves is piled around the circumference of the desert landscape to make a huge barrier of stones, though stray bits are left scattered around the interior for people to sit on.

At the center of the arena the ground quakes and bursts open to reveal the prow of an arc - a great ship. It is wood and as aged as civilisation. The arc continues to thrust out of the ground until it reaches the height of a tower. I climb the tower easily, my fingers sure as they seek out irregularities in the surface between the slats of wood, and I do not tire. I sit atop it, as if to judge the proceedings below. From this vantage point the scenery is so desolate it is almost alien, with the celebrants beneath me it is like Mardi Gras held on Mars. I close my eyes and let the hot wind blow through my hair. I feel like a space on the top of my brain is opening, and I know without looking that the same thing is happening to the sky.

The sky fills with meteors. I hear them whistling around me, a rainfall of light against the deepening blue of the sky. The people below me get on bicycles and cycle madly to avoid getting hit, though some of them get their wheels tangled in their long beards which have begun to grow.

The evening wears on and the sun begins to set. From the top of the arc, I wonder at the sunset, leached of color - greys and browns and mauve, the color of dust. The lack of color disturbs me, the taste of ash is in my mouth, and I return my attention to the ground. Eventually it becomes too dark to easily see the activities from the ground, and the rubble around the barrier is set alight. As I ignite each pile of rubble the stones erupt, creating columns of flame which now punctuate the grounds. the cyclists, still handicapped by their beards, thread their way through them in intricate formations as if it was an obstacle course. As the sun sets, I kneel from my position atop the arc and peer down to marvel at the spectacle of the riders and the flames.

As the darkness comes, the meteor shower ends, so the night is only illuminated by flame. The cyclists stop, now that they are no longer evading the stones flung from the sky, and begin the process of reconfiguring their bicycles into musical instruments. Some of them pick up the harps long since abandoned by the dwarves. They start to play in the darkness. I feel drawn to the sound, and decide I want to be closer. I clamber down the side of the arc, awkward in the dark, the rough wood bruising my hands and legs . The music touches me ... it is sad, so sad. I look around and see the devastation and hear the cries of the wounded for the first time. Did I cause all this? I start to weep, great wracking sobs which bring me to my knees. I'm sorry, so sorry ... crying so hard my body contorts in pain. The ground starts to ripple around me, breaking and crumbling with each pang that goes through my belly.

I see a flicker out of the corner of my eye. Silvery white, like the wing of a dove. A blade hangs suspended in the air before my face, shining white illuminating me. It vibrates, and sings. It soothes me. I know what I have to do. Off in the distance, I see the Acid Queen running towards me, beckoning me to stop, but it is too late. Too late for all of us.

* * *

The silver woman looks at the pillar of salt before her, which had once been a human being. She shakes her head. Dagger leans over her lover. "Hawk?" she whispers tenderly.

"Tandy -- Dagger? You're back? It's been so long ... "

She places her finger over his lips. "I'm back. I'm not leaving you again. That's a promise."

* * *

ADDENDUM:

Salvador Dali, wrote a film script in 1937 for the Marx Brothers, entitled _Giraffes on Horseback Salads_. It was never made, reportedly because MGM, with whom the Marx Brothers had an exclusive contract, felt it was too surreal. This story is my approximation of that plot.


	14. The Power Of Brotherhood

The support staff waded through the cots in the amphitheater. The building had been transformed into an impromptu refugee center following the disaster which had devastated four acres of downtown Elmond, including the university. Amazingly, few people had been killed, but the already overstressed Federal Welfare Center found itself swamped with the traumatised and the newly homeless.

Tandy grabbed a spare moment in between passing out sandwiches and slipped out to a far corner to massage her feet. "Ugggh," she told Archie when she summoned him over. "I didn't take this job to be a waitress."

Archie nodded and sat down next to her, "It's good to have you back though. Hardly a welcome homecoming after your leave of absence ... you're gone for nearly a year and then you come back right in the middle of this disaster. I'm glad you weren't caught up in it."

Tandy nodded, a little absently. "You're looking very trim though, you've lost weight since I've been away."

Archie sighed, "Well," he said, and looked lost for words, "can we discuss something confidentially?" he whispered.

Tandy said, "Of course."

Archie bit his lip, a little nervously. "I'm positive."

"Of what?"

"No, I mean ... "

"Oh," Tandy said softly.

Their conversation was disrupted by a medley of screams. "Cripes!" Tandy said, and they rushed over to see the smoke. One of the refugees had been set on fire. Archie grabbed a nearby blanket which Tandy took from his hands, and she and one of the other staff members smothered the flames until the died down.

Tandy looked around angrily, "Who did this?"

"I swear, nobody did!" a teenage girl from the crowd pleaded, "He just went on fire!" The others nodded effusively, many vocally affirming her statement.

"Tandy," said the other employee, "this guy's barely burned."

Tandy peered down, curious, "Jericho? What is it, Mr. Power?" His clothing was charred and his dark skin looked roughened by the heat, but he was otherwise unharmed. He started to croak out something, struggling to speak. Tandy bent her head down to hear, brushing ash off his close-cropped hair, noting the white line which traveled up the center. "I must find that doll, the ti bon ange ... " he coughed out, the coughing growing deeper as he started to cough water out from his lungs, Tandy and the others looking on, helpless.  


* * *

The small satellite crashed into the water outside Elmond Beach. Minutes later, its passenger washed ashore, his body floating easily on the waves spilling out from the impact. It had been twenty years since he had walked the earth. His body was limp as he struggled to his feet. "Thank you Agwe, for helping me past the crossroads from the sky back to the earth!" He shambled up the beach until he could see the city of Elmond. He spread his arms wide as if to embrace it, and began to dance his way there, "Look out all you groovy guys and gorgeous chicks, your long-lost loa's back in town!"

* * *

Tandy put her arm around Archie's shoulder comfortingly. It grated that for all her abilities, she couldn't help her friend. "The hardest thing ... " he said.

Tandy tilted her head at his words, "Go on."

Archie sighed. " I don't know. Sometimes I feel like there's a black cloud around me, like in a cartoon ... that the stink of death just follows me around. The AZT is keeping me alive, but I'm not kidding myself that I have anything more than a couple of years. But the hardest thing ... this sound stupid ... but I keep thinking that I'm never going to be with anyone ever again. The girls in the office ... Veronica, hell even Betty ... they don't know but I'm sure they wouldn't want to even come near me now."

Her hand sought out one of his, squeezing it gently. "I know how that sort of loneliness and fear can really crush you."

He stared at his hands. "So in addition to everything else I have to be alone for the rest of my life."

Tandy remained silent, unable to find the words to help her friend, the professional platitudes she used every day lost to her.

* * *

Howl destructive chants, Merrymaking at central Bacchanal platforms.

The Clash Pistols on tour. (rinsed blue hair.) Surrounded by sweat, by a feeling of competition, by constrained hostility. (stupid world war two-style goggles to protect eyes, hoping contacts don't fall out.) Caught in an awkward position, elbow in a neighbor's solar plexus, knee twinging kicked by somebody's foot. (too-large leather jacket borrowed from a friend.) spit. (hiking boots best I could do but too clumsy for the occasion.) Grinning cheerfully, shared grins and grimaces with those surrounding, led by the muzick. (pyramided leather wristbands.) Conviction (on) her (lover's) face (never) to (do) this (again) ...

Tandy pogoed her way out of the crowd and wound her way past the stragglers at the back, eyes peering around the back of the room to see Hank, standing awkwardly holding a beer. He was dressed in denim jeans, a white t-shirt, and an expensive black leather jacket, looking more like a revivalist 50's greaser than anything else. She slipped the goggles off her head and wiped the sweat off her face with her sleeve, and rested her hands on his shoulders, leaning up to give him a kiss. "Having fun?"

Hank kissed her back, "What did you say? I think my ears are bleeding."

Tandy harrumphed, "The Clash Pistols are famous. You should like them, you like reggae don't you? A lot of their stuff has that ragga beat to it."

Hank barely smirked, "Does it? I can't tell."

Tandy pinched him playfully. "Well, I'm having fun. Get me another beer, you sodding wanker." She giggled like a naughty child. "I'll see you in a bit." She slid back into the crowd.

For Hank, the hours passed like hours. Finally, after the small but appreciative audience was treated to several encores, Hank and Tandy made their way out to the streets. They scarcely noticed the figure who rode the crowd out with them until he danced up to them, blocking their path.

He was a small figure, not even five feet tall, and had the appearance of a mobile doll. His skin, which appeared to be cloth, was a dark brown, his hair was long black braids with a silver braid coming from the center of his forehead, his clothes (which appeared to be made out of the same substance as his skin) were deep red and green with a seemingly abstract emblem stitched onto his chest. His movements were loose and gangly. "Erzulie and Ogoun!" he sang at them, "I would recognise you anywhere!"

The couple looked at one another in dismay. The unfamiliar names made their heads spin ... and somehow they sensed he was addressing their alter egos. "Yipes!" the mysterious figure said as they each grabbed an arm and hustled them into their car.

The figure bounced around in the back seat. "Thank you thank you Erzulie and Ogoun, there was bad petro in that place, so much noise, so much fighting!"

Tandy turned to look at him. "What ... who are you? Why do you keep calling us that?"

The figure preened, "I'm Brother Power the Voodoo Geek of course, the Living Voodoo Doll, come back to remake the planet by spreading groovy juju. And you're Erzulie and Ogoun ... love and war."

Tandy opened her mouth, "First off, our names are ... crap!" She was distracted by a small explosion. Hank pulled the car over quickly as they saw a group of men in black suits run out of a nearby building. He looked at Tandy. "Do you think it's them? The 'Mr. Men'?"

Their passenger blinked, "Your names are crap?"

She stared, "The Ditkators, er, Diktators, whatever they called themselves? I think so." She turned back to address the living voodoo doll again. "Ok, Brother Voodoo, our names are Erzulie and Ogoun if you like. Just ... stay here!" Their bodies were briefly illuminated by red and silver, and Hawk and Dagger leapt out of the car to follow the others.

Inside the empty warehouse, Mr. E furrowed his brow. "They're coming ... the ones we encountered in October ... though they look different."

Mr. U cracked his knuckles, "By Neptune's trident, though I have been too long from the ocean, I look forward to a rematch. They took me by surprise last time."

Mr. A nodded, "Alright men, battle formation. Mr. I, you take the watch."

Mr. O readied his flogger as Mr. A and Mr. U took point. Mr. I nodded suddenly, and got the drop on the pair as they entered through a window. The others entered the battle at a furious pace, their numbers starting to tell. Events were broken off as Mr. E let out a wild, animalistic cry.

Mr. A paused, "What did you do to him?"

Dagger said, "I ... I don't know ... "

Mr. E screamed out, "There's someone else ... someone else ... " his words starting to blend together into a terrifying mÈlange of incomprehensible syllables. He fell to the ground and started to buck and thrash. Mr. A shouted, "Don't just stand there, get the man a doctor!" But they all watched, appalled, as the man's clothes unraveled, and reformed in the shape of a familiar manikin. "wwwwWow, that was some trip, man."

Hawk scowled, "I thought we told you to stay in the car."

Brother Power the Voodoo Geek beamed, "Like, I am in the car. I'm also here! Is that the most happenin', or what?" He turned to Dagger, "You look so different, Erzulie. You shine, I used to know a girl who shined like that, she was really special. I like you much better than the way you looked before, that was bad crazy, lady."

Dagger blinked at him, "Why do you say that?"

Mr. I lunged at Brother Power, but had his attack rebuffed by the manikin's flexible body. He and the others piled onto Hawk, as the most dangerous of the pair.

Brother Power said, "So loud and angry, it was like a real bad trip back there. We sang nice songs where I came from."

Dagger looked thoughtful, "Well, it can get pretty loud, but a lot of it is just a return to earlier traditions like garage bands ... it's not really all that different. And the anger is a lot more playful than it looks. Nobody really gets hurt slamdancing. It's not like Jimi Hendrix was quiet!"

"Ack! Dagger!" Hawk desperately battled his business suited foes.

Brother Power turned his head sideways, "We did do a lot of shaking a rattle and beating drums, but that's all big negativity still, they weren't singing about peace and love."

Hawk tried to use Mr. A's armored form as a shield against Mr. U's heavy blows. "Dagger! Help!"

Dagger nodded, "Yeah ... a lot of that innocence has been lost, maybe more's the pity, but ... excuse me .. " She walked up behind Mr. O as he drawing his flogger back to lash into Hawk, grabbing the end of it so hat his hand came down holding empty air. Hawk saw the movement out of his peripheral vision, and delivered a crushing blow to Mr. O's bewildered face. "But the political impulse isn't dead," she continued, "a lot of the Clash Pistol's lyrics talk about racism and social injustice, if you listen to them, and there are lots of segments of the punk movement that are very involved in anarchist theory and social change."

Brother Power danced around, "Maybe ... maybe I can still do something groovy here. I sure miss all my old friends though." He eyed the combatants warily. "Bad mojo here, very very uncool," he blurted, and with surprising strength pushed Mr. A and Mr. U off of Hawk, the impact knocking them unconscious as they crashed against a wall.

Hawk glared at the unconscious pair, panting. Dagger smiled softly, "Friends are important. Why don't we see what we can do."

* * *

Hank whispered, "Are you sure this will work?"

Tandy whispered back, "I think so ... if we've done it right."

Brother Power the Voodoo Geek danced around the living room of the apartment, barely able to contain his excitement. "I love surprises, what a cool day!" Hank and Tandy were nervous about getting the manikin past Mr. Garrett's obtrusive eye, but fortunately he was nowhere to be seen.

Finally the door from the bedroom opened. "Ok, are you ready?" Hank said, as if he was presenting a magic trick. Tandy announced, "We are happy to present ... Sister Energy the Voodoo Ditz!"

A small feminine manikin burst into the living room, arms spread wide. "Honey bubbles!" she shouted ecstatically.

"Pookie pie!" Brother Power sang out, and leapt over to give her a huge hug. The two of them walked out of the apartment hand in hand, exchanging devoted glances. Hank and Tandy could practically see the little cartoon hearts floating above their heads.

Hank sighed. "That went better than expected."

Tandy nodded, a bit skittishly. "One more thing, Hank. We have to talk. It's about Archie."

* * *

ADDENDUM

Jericho Power got more than he bargained for when he tried to summon the spirit of his dead brother. Because of a misspoken curse, Jericho summoned not only his brother, but also the spirit of Earth's Doll Elemental. Now with the combined power of these three souls, Jericho has created a champion which fights evil as Brother Power the Voodoo Geek! (character created by Crazy Ivan, origin penned by Lord Torgamous)


	15. The Metamortal's Fete

(with party dialog by Cyndi Norman, Ivan Schablotski, and Anwar Singh)

Elmond:

Tandy blinked, and looked up from her fried eggs, "Um, Hank?"

He called back from the bedroom where he was pitting on his tie. "Yes dear?"

She said warily, "Did you get a new pet and not tell me?"

He wandered back in, "What?" Only to stop short when he saw the snowy-white owl perched on their dining table. Tandy had pulled her plate closer to her protectively.

"Aren't a lot of owls in Elmond, I wonder where it escaped from? Tandy, it has a note attached to its claw."

"I know. You get it. I'm not touching it."

Hank approached the bird slowly, and eased the note off. "He seems tame enough," Hank mused.

"How do you know it's a he?"

The owl swiveled its head to take in the two of them. "WhOOt," it said, and flew out the window. Hank unrolled the note and read it out loud:

"The Nikopol Association invites  
Hawk & Dagger  
to the 12th Annual Metamortal's Fete  
to be held at  
No Man's Land, New Gotham City  
(Formal wear required. Masks allowed: All secret identities respected.)"

Tandy bounced in her chair, "Oh Hank! Can we go? Can we?"

He chuckled, "Well I have about two year's worth of vacation pay saved up, I suppose we can spare a trip back East."

Tandy grinned, "It feels like we've finally hit the big time."

* * *

New Gotham:

The pair walked down the New Gotham streets. Dagger pulled her coat closer around her shoulders. She shivered, "I know I'm supposed to be invulnerable, but I've just been spoiled by California weather. Are we there yet?"

Hawk ran his finger under his too-tight collar. "Yes, I think that's the address on the back of the card. From what I've heard, No Man's Land doesn't have a public face, it's metahumans only, though some costumed folk can get membership by fiat."

They walked through the alleyway and Hawk knocked 'shave and a haircut, two bits' on the lone door. A window opened up, and Hawk flashed the invitation. It opened silently, and a disembodied voice announced to the room, "Hawk and Dagger, Elmond California, X-Patrol affiliates." They walked through the door and the same voice quietly murmured, "Please be advised that truce conditions hold for the fete, and vendettas will not be tolerated."

They wandered through, looking for familiar faces, eavesdropping on the conversations around them.

"Heard you have an evil twin clone from the future. So do I!"

"Who invited the Punisher? He is such a killjoy."

"Thank God for you, Peter."

"I use an ethanol mixture. It doesn't burn as hot."

"Didn't we meet during the Millennium Wars?"

"No, I was the sidekick. It was my mentor that died."

"You remind me of a very young Niles Cable."

"Has anyone seen a large winged swamp monster? He's the green one with a bat-snout."

"So you killed American Girl? Which one?"

"Ever dance with the Devil in the pale moon light?"

"Only once, but it was for a very noble cause."

"I thought you died in the Sub-Atomic Universe?"

"No, that was my husk."

"Touch me there again, and they'll be picking silicon chips out of the ceiling for a month!"

"Where do you get those wonderful toys?"

"And here I thought we were the only west coast team that based itself on the JLAvengers!"

"Is that a web-shooter in your pocket?"

"Now I remember! It was the MutantFall Crisis! No, that Bronze Tiger was a chick."

"And I would have gotten away with it if it wasn't for those pesky kids."

"How do you get your uniform on over those wings?"

"Ever wonder what happens to a toad when it gets struck by lightning?"

"Seriously, you used to call yourself Magnemorpho?"

"Are you a god?"

"I've spotted four so far, how about you?"

"No, I'm the original. You're the evil twin clone from the future."

"Dr. Polaris makes seven, even though you can't tell her hair's green in that hood."

"Green hair? I was counting movie quotes!"

"You just know a fight's gonna break out. Back when I was in the Legion of the Strange, we couldn't go a week without a slugfest, and there were just four of us!"

----------------------------------------------------

Dagger heard a familiar voice, and drew Hawk's attention over to the far corner.

Sparrow the Girl Wonder approached Shatterstarfire. "I know you haven't been in this  
a long time, but I want you to know that I really, like, admire you."

Princess Koriand'ru smiled wryly. "And how can that be, when you're always hanging out with the Dark Claw?"

"Well, you know. You just... fill out your costume so well. God, I'd give anything to have your figure! I mean like, how does it stay on like that?"

"Child, you have no idea." Shatterstarfire sets down her drink and lifts her breasts up with both hands. "You ever try doing acrobatics, much less flying, with these things pounding into you? Be thankful for what you have. At least you don't have to worry about all the guys tripping over themselves while they drool."

"And that would be a bad thing, why?"

Silicone Man, watching Shatterstarfire feel herself up from across the room, literally tripped over himself and collapses into a pile of sand. "Did you see that? I think she just did a 'Got Milk' commercial!"

Hawk walked over and tapped Shatterstarfire on the shoulder. "Kori?"

She whirled around, saw him and beamed, "Hawk!" She grabbed him in a tight hug, and kissed him soundly. Hawk turned to Dagger, a bit abashed. "Um, sweetie?"

Dagger laughed, "Go have fun with your alien babe. I know you haven't seen each other since the 'Citadel of Fear' case. I'll be fine." She gave him a quick peck on his cheek, hugged Shatterstarfire, and wandered off.

Silicone Man reformed, only to start bashing his forehead into the tabletop, splattering sand everywhere. "Did you see that hug? Bad thoughts, bad thoughts!"

Beastling scowls and hunches over his bottle of Jim Daniels. "Don't waste your time, slick. I saved Dagger's hide when we fought the Dark Baron in the Microverse and she still wouldn't give me the time relative to the local planetary revolutions, despite all those nice line about how they have an open relationship based on love and mutual respect for each other, not possession of each other's body or control over the other's life. Unquote." After another sip he added, "And her boyfriend's a tank."

----------------------------------------------------

Did you get a load of what he's wearing?  
What is with those stockings?  
Yeah, you can see every hair on his super jewels.  
Maybe that's his power...he distracts you then bonks you on the back of the head.

So then she says 'well I can shoot fire from my nose' so I go 'yeah well maybe you should save up and buy the power of shooting water from your fingertips.'  
Well that explains why she won't come over to this side of the room.

Okay, I gotta ask...black and white and checks? What were you thinking?

Man...they put nuts on my salad. I told them no nuts. So can I have the rest of your potatoes?

How come the people on that side of the room got are going for seconds? We haven't even had our firsts.  
Priority seating I guess.  
Well they could at least bring some hors d'oeuvres over here.  
Yeah no kidding. Did you try the dolmas?  
Oh those were good.  
Think we can teleport some over here?  
Hmmmm...what's that waiter carrying?  
Use your mind warp on him...alright! He's coming over.  
Thank God.

----------------------------------------------------

Dagger sighed to herself ... she tended to like the idea of these big parties, but it was always hard to find people she knew, and she never knew how to socialise that casually in big groups. She wandered over to play wallflower for a bit in order to get her bearings.

As she made her way through the crowd, she noticed on a corner table a sleeping cat, wearing what appeared to be a red cape attached to its collar. She sat on the edge of the table and tapped it gently. The cat shook its head awake and trilled at the disturbance. Dagger started to pet it gently behind its ears, "And what are you doing here, pretty one?"

From behind her, a voice said, "Oh, that's just the Grey Streak. She used to be a superhero, I guess you'd call it, twelve years ago. She's pretty old now, nobody pays much attention to her anymore."

Dagger turned to see a familiar face, hooded in purple, above a sleek tux. She snarled, "Doctor Whiplash."

He backed off a step, "Whoah, we're under truce here, remember? I came to socialise, not to fight."

Dagger nodded. "Yeah ... sorry. This is my first Fete, I'm still getting used to the concept."

Doctor Whiplash said, "Well, take care of yourself. I'm off to the buffet. See you later maybe."

She called after him, "Hey!" He looked back. She half-grinned, "We'll have to compare flogging techniques some time."

Doctor Whiplash laughed. "Yeah, I'd like that. See you later, Dagger."

Dagger continued petting the cat, who purred steadily, half-closing her eyes as the woman scratched gently under her chin. "Would you like some tuna, kitty?" she said. "Stay right there, I'll go see if there's anything at the buffet for you." She stood up and wandered through the crowd while the Grey Streak curled back up on the table.

The Brotherhood of Injustice were standing by the Men's Room door. Ms. Tique had instructed them to meet her at the party, but it is always difficult to locate someone in a crowded area -- especially when that someone happens to be a metamutant shape-shifter.

"Hey, Baby, I haven't seen you stateside for a while . . . " After delivering his carefully crafted pick-up line, Major Avalanche attempted to put his arm around ShadowWing's shoulder. But the masked heroine simply phased her body so that Major Avalanche fell right through and landed on the floor.

A few feet away, Big Blob, his girth nearly busting out of his formal wear, snickered at his teammate's misfortune. "Hey, when's the food getting' here?" bellowed Big Blob as he rubbed his growling stomach.

"In precisely 35 minutes, 14 seconds, and 45 nanoseconds," responded Clock Queen."

"Clock Queen?"

"Yes, Pyrofly?"

"You're as useless as an ashtray on a motorbike."

----------------------------------------------------

"Outta my way, I'm starvin'!" trumpeted Baran O'Hirn, the behemoth known as Elephant, as he tried to shove Big Blob out of the way to secure the first spot in the line forming in front of the salad bar. But as the two heavyweights began to wrestle, two twig-like arms brandishing butcher knives appeared out of nowhere -- threatening to defend the salad bar at any cost.

"Don't even think about eating that vegetation!" warned Samuel Woodrue, the Floronic Plant Man.

----------------------------------------------------

"Isss it jussst me, or isss it cold in here?" hissed Mac Gargan, the costumed contortionist known as Snake.

"I think there's a heated rock in the other room if you need it," responded Incinereater of the Freak Show of Crime.

----------------------------------------------------

"Do you see this sling?" asked Oddshot. "This sling would have killed that blasted Hawkeye if that wench Canary hadn't interfered!"

"Oh yeah?" replied the Ozone Biker through his motorcycle helmet's mirrored visor. "These gas cans nearly suffocated Hawkeye . . . but then that no-good little sidekick Arrowcaster came to his rescue!"

"No, no, no! I was the one who came closest to defeating that vile archer," argued Count Nefaria Vertigo.

"Talk about lame!" grunted Ambush the Lunatik. "He's a frikkin' human with arrows! If you guys want a challenge then try takin' on Lobo the frikkin' Duck!"

----------------------------------------------------

Dagger had just managed to fill her plate when things got ugly.....curses filled the air as people ripped off their jackets and entered into a fray.

"Eat Silly-String, you medieval dillweed!"

"This is for American Girl. All of them!"

"My evil twin clone is gonna kick your evil twin clone's ass in the future!"

"Ah, but I know something you do not know. I am not left-handed!"

"That better be your web-shooter!"

"Hah! My arrows are made of Promethium!"

"Big deal. My armor's made of Adamantium."

"Quit biting me. We're on the same team!"

"It's true. Metamutants do taste like chicken."

"Spooooon!"

"That is so not your battle-cry!"

"Damn, I was hoping those fins were just for show."

"You call this a fight? Back in my day, we used to slam each other into buildings all up and down Madison Avenue! I remember this one time..."

"Hold up! I lost my glasses!"

"For New Asgard!"

"I know we're fighting and all, but really; I'm sure I saw you die during one of those big crossovers."

"Let go, or I morph into a pile of Green K!"

"Why won't you die!"

"My vheels! I can't move my vheels!"

"You just better hope Ra's A-Pocalypse is still in a coma!"

"I'm gonna ram that ski-pole up your silvery arse!"

"I don't care if you are my evil twin clone from the future; I'm still gonna kill you!"

Dagger danced and ducked her way back to the table carrying a plate of food, only to find the Grey Streak missing. "Kitty?" she called out.

She heard a muffled, "Meer?"

Dagger focused on the sound. "Oh my gosh, you're buried under all the coats!" She started to wade through them all carefully, tossing them on the floor until she found the rumpled-looking cat. She scooped her up and held her to her chest protectively, and the cat started to purr contentedly again. "Poor kitty."

The two of them sat in the corner watching the fray. Dagger sighed, "I hope Hawk gets this all out of his system soon, I have a date when we get back home and I don't want to have to play nursemaid to him."

* * *

Elmond:

"Ok, ok, quit knocking, I'll be right there." Archie opened the door to his apartment, to see Tandy Bowan standing in the hallway. He blinked, "Oh ... Tandy ... what a surprise ... please come in."

Tandy walked in, giving her friend a quick hug. "Hi Archie. You know, I don't think I've ever visited your apartment, after all this time?"

He smiled a bit nervously, "No, you never have. So, um, what's up?"

She chuckled, glancing around his apartment. "I've thought a lot about what we were talking about last week. I'd like to help, if I can."

He blinked, "Um, Tandy? I'm ... I'm not sure what you mean."

She reached over, brushing her fingers against the back of his neck. He shivered. "You're too good a man to be alone for the rest of your life." She kissed him softly.

Archie blushed. "I thought you were practically married to that guy."

Tandy smiled softly. "I am. I didn't say we were monogamous."

He made a silent "oh" with his mouth, his head reeling a little bit. "Tandy, you know I'm HIV+ ... are you sure you want to do this?"

She kissed him again, and chuckled softly, patting her overnight bag. "I have enough latex in here to choke a horse."

* * *

Unknown, the Greek Islands

"Give me your hand."

Aspacia reached over, and Stathis helped her out of the boat. They looked around the rocky islet. "This was a real find, sweetheart," she said, "I don't think it's on any of the maps."

He nodded, "The Greek Isles are so numerous, I'm sure there are many small islands like this which aren't on the official maps." He grinned at her mischievously, "We may be the first people ever to set foot on it!"

She laughed, "What an adventure!" The pair started pacing around the beach, treading carefully over the rocky ground. Stathis felt his extra weight on these hikes, but was determined not to let that spoil her adventure. He watched her as the pair of them started clambering up a small mountain on he east side of the island. She was voluptuous, with long, thick dark hair, and classical Greek features. I am lucky to have her, he thought.

Finally they reached the top. "Oh Stathis, look," she said, taking his arm.

They stood on a ledge high above the sparkling waters of a gulf, by the steps of a plain hut built of mountain laurel-wood, woven with stalks of native fern. Nearby, a stream ran, the rushing water sounding in their ears. The hut was bare inside, but for nine low tripod chairs set over a cleft in the dirt floor; and on the chairs sat a group of nine dog-headed and flipper-handed figures, wearing long, hooded black robes which concealed their bodies. They had webbed feet as well as webbed fingers. One was holding a trident, another a sickle, and a third was wearing a battle-helmet. From the hole beneath the cleft, they could see mists rising from the earth.

Stathis and Aspacia looked at each other; he put a finger to his lips to beckon her to silence. The two of them slowly backed up, trying to exit as noiselessly as possible. The found themselves encompassed by the strange mists, unable to see their surroundings at all. They held each other's hands tightly, attempting to retrace their steps back down the path, feeling their way carefully.

Aspacia jumped as she found herself nearly face-to-face with one of the figures, holding a burning willow stalk which emitted the mists. "Stathis!" she screamed, backing up into him as they were surrounded, the figures chanting as they closed in.

"Copper, Silver, Gold."

"Copper, Silver, Gold."

"Copper, Silver, Gold."

* * *

Brotherhood of Injustice [Injustice League / Brotherhood of Evil Mutants]  
Ms. Tique [Ms. Tree / Mystique]  
Major Avalanche [Major Disaster / Avalanche] -- created by Omegabeast  
ShadowWing [Nightwing / Shadowcat] -- created by Ivan Schablotski  
Big Blob [Big Sir / Blob] -- created by Omegabeast  
Clock Queen [Clock King / Destiny] -- created by Omegabeast  
Pyrofly [Firefly / Pyro] -- created by Omegabeast

Elephant [Mammoth / Rhino] -- created by Omegabeast  
Floronic Plant Man [Floronic Man / Plant Man] -- created by Ivan Schablotski & Omegabeast

Snake [Copperhead / Scorpion] -- created by Omegabeast  
Incinereater [Incinderella / Fire Eater] -- created by Omegabeast  
Freak Show of Crime [Freak Show / Circus of Crime] -- created by Omegabeast

Oddshot [Slingshot / Oddball] -- created by Omegabeast  
Hawkeye [Green Arrow / Hawkeye]  
Canary [Black Canary / Mockingbird]  
Ozone Biker [Ozone / Bullet Biker] -- created by Loborine  
Arrowcaster [Speedy / Nightcaster]  
Count Nefaria Vertigo [Count Vertigo / Count Nefaria] -- created by Loborine  
Ambush the Lunatik [Ambush Bug / Lunatik]  
Lobo the Duck [Lobo / Howard the Duck]


	16. Remain In Light

Tandy squeezed Hank's hand. He looked at her, "So you're going to tell me what the big surprise is? Who we're visiting?"

Tandy kissed his cheek. He could see the nervousness on her face. "In a minute." She rang the doorbell again.

Finally the door opened. The man who answered the door was lean and auburn-haired, with gentle features and a day's growth of beard. He was wearing just a t-shirt and sweatpants and socks. "Hi Richard," Tandy said, her tone cheerful, but Hank could see the tension in the bounce she gave when the door opened.

He smiled. "Hey Tandy, and you must be Hank." He turned his head and shouted into the house, "Marie, your sister is here."

The woman came to the door, all smiles, and carrying a baby in her arms. Hank looked between the two of them. Tandy's sister obviously resembled her, but looked older and had shoulder-length, somewhat flat and stringy-looking, brown hair as opposed to Tandy's short and spiky blonde hair. "Hello Hank," she said, extending a hand after she unloaded the child gently into her husband's arms. "Tandy's told us a lot about you."

He took the hand, looking at Tandy and back to her sister. "Er ... I hate to say this but she's never told me *anything* about you ... or even that she had a sister."

Marie chuckled, "Quite the international woman of mystery, our Tandy is. Please, come in, both of you. I'm sorry the house is a bit of a pit." She put her hands out to her husband, "Come on Erol," and he returned the baby to her arms.

The two of them wandered in, following the woman, Richard closing the mesh door behind them, but leaving the main door open to air out the room. Marie kicked a path through the clothing and magazines that lay over the floor, and managed one-armed to clear enough room off the sofa for her visitors to sit in. She looked at them apologetically. "Can I get you something to drink?"

Hank eyed the sofa a bit dubiously, but sat down, his head swimming. Richard leaned over to where Tandy sat and gave her a familial hug. "We've got some Mountain Sprite in the fridge, let me get you a glass."

"Um, sure," Hank said. "That would be great Richard, thanks," Tandy said.

Marie set the child down on the floor, keeping an eye on him as he crawled about. "He doesn't bother you, does he Hank?"

Hank shook his head, "No, not at all. So, uh."

Tandy leaned across and gave Hank a tight hug. "I know this is a lot to lay on you babe, I'm sorry." She chuckled ruefully. "I guess ... I'm ready to tell you about my life, which I've always avoided. But a lot of it is about my sister, and I really needed her here to tell you everything."

Richard brought back a trio of glasses of the pale green, sparkling liquid, which he passed out to the assembled. He hovered about the front door. "Babe, this is really between you three. I'm going to take a drive. You need anything?"

She shrugged, "Pick up some ribs for dinner why don't you. Drive carefully hon."

He waved, grabbing a keychain off a hook from which they were hanging by the front door, and walked out.

Hank looked at Tandy. "Well," he said.

She looked down at her knee, where she was tracing circles with her fingertips. Her voice was halting. "I've never really understood the conceit necessary to sit down and write an autobiography, though at times I've been grateful for it. I guess I'll just tell this like I had gotten a new book for my journal, and wanted to have a 'recap of past episodes.'"

Erol wandered over and sat at Tandy's feet. "Ba!" he said. Tandy chuckled and leaned down to ruffle his hair gently. "Go on hon," Marie told her. "You can't hide things from your man forever."

Tandy nodded, and looked at Hank. "I don't remember what my father was like before he went off to Viet Nam; I was four when he came back, and we never sat down and had a father-daughter chat or anything before I left. Marie was pretty tight-lipped on the whole subject, and Mom of course never had much to say about anything. I remember seeing a photo of him and my mom once, taken when they were dating. He sorta looked like a real person, which surprised me, you know?"

Marie nodded softly, "I think I've still got that pic, if I never burned it. I can show it to you later if you want, Hank."

Tandy wrinkled her nose at her sister. "As long as I can remember my folks had separate bedrooms. My father was a _big_ guy, I used to call him "the General" behind his back. He certainly ran the family like a tin-pot army general; the man was a fucking Nazi. He didn't bother me much, I was just a little kid at the time realise. But he always used to go into Marie's bedroom at night, used to go into the bathroom when she was taking a shower. I mean he used to slap me if I was making too much noise when he was reading the paper or something, which was all he ever did at home anyway, but he never tried any funny stuff."

Hank looked at Marie compassionately. "That's ... that's horrible." The older woman's face hardened. "It's old news," she said. "Go on, Tandy."

Tandy sighed a little. "When was twelve and got my first period he was *furious*; guess he felt like I betrayed him by growing up or something. He beat me black and blue, which was the first time he had ever hit me really serious. I just hid in my room that night, feeling like whatever had happened had been *my* fault. But that night my sister made a decision, she had been going through the same shit and didn't want it to be *my* turn. So she bundled everything together, including me, loaded up into a bus and go west, young woman."

Hank nodded, and squeezed Tandy's hand. She squeezed back, and looked at her sister. "You got anything stronger than Mountain Sprite around here?"

Marie shook her head. "Naw ... not after the problems we've had in the past. We ... Erol!" She ran over to where the child had managed to get grip on the dangling sleeve of a jacket to raise himself to his feet, not noticing the object's slow slippage or the tumbling onto his head of heavy objects resting on the jacket which would be the inevitable result. She scooped him up and set him back in the living room by her feet. "Now sit," she said.

"What you did for Tandy took a lot of guts, " Hank said, looking at Marie with new respect. She shrugged.

Tandy leaned against Hank. "'Freedom' was hardly the promised land though. As you can guess, the whole exodus hadn't been planned too carefully. My sister bounced from waitress job to waitress job and I ... I was busy being an ungrateful little snit."

She bit her lip and drew a deep breath. "See, while I by *no* means wanted to go back home, I missed the luxuries that I had there (our family was fairly well off). We were pretty much living from day to day and I *hated* that, and I blamed my sister for it. We were afraid to apply for welfare because I was a runaway, right, and we didn't want the cops tipped off to send me back. We might not have the rent or nothing for electricity. I remember one January it was bitter cold and we didn't have any heat, my sister wasn't working, I hadn't eaten for three days, and I was so cold and hungry and sick that I felt like I was shitting out my intestines when I was on the pot ... "

Hank's face contorted with sympathy. He put his arm around Tandy but she wriggled free and sat up. "So I ran away. Again. Talking about out of the fucking frying pan."

She looked at him, then back down to her knees again. "I guess I won't tell you much about my boyfriend, Sammie ... fucking old men drooling on you ... it's wonder I'm not more used-up looking than I am. That's ... that's why Boss Dargo kidnapped me that time before we met. He recognised me. I'm not real proud of this stuff, but living on the streets for close to three years was my life. We were on the road a lot. And I discovered *punk.*"

She gave him a lopsided grin. "It was a revelation to me! I never realised that people could look, could think like that! And they liked me! Sammie, I'm sorry to say, was out on his ass. Good riddance."

Hank nodded. "I want to kill him."

She shrugged. "I took to fashion like a duck to water (cliche), pawning off most of those ridiculous hot-pants and halter tops, and hung around begging money looking to invest in a Salvation Army leather jacket. I shaved off the sides of my head and did my hair into a mohawk. I got a job at a record store (cliche!). And I discovered something else about this time, too. I'm *smart*."

He leaned over and kissed her cheek. "You've always been my heroine."

She took his hand in hers again. "At any rate, the high school equivalency exams were a breeze. And I fit in well with the coffeehouse crowd. And I started to *read* old stuff I missed reading in school. Kate Chopin, Dostoevski, Chaucer, Jean Genet, Doris Lessing. I even got into a good scholarship program and started going to college, found my way into an electronics major. That was where I met my Jonathan Scott McMann."

She leaned in against him. "God, I wish you could have seen him then! I think I told you that he had been confined to a wheelchair since he was a small child. But I didn't tell you what it was like to *meet* him! All that shaggy black hair that couldn't stay combed, his gruff mannerisms despite the chair, and all those warts. I know he doesn't sound like much of a prize, but he was pretty fascinating despite all that. And he *burned*. He had a fire in his eyes that I've never seen in anyone else, before or since. He was quite the hot shit in the department at the time, too, with his work in cybernetics technology."

Hank nodded. "Obviously, I never saw that side of him. I'm sorry things ended as they did. Did you love him?"

Marie snorted and Tandy glared at her. "Well ... did I love him? No. He's an incredibly impressive man, this flame that he carries within him devouring all obstacles, and somehow he decided that I was his object of desire. I got a little high off that, as you can probably imagine. And with his position at Kord Industries he had a lot of financial security, and you can pretty well imagine how important that was to me at the time. So when he proposed ... I was just feeling overwhelmed by all this, it seemed like such a reasonable life-choice at the time. And I figured given time you can learn to love anybody."

Hank spoke softly, "People don't change, love. Not that way." She nodded. "Yeah, sure. But the deed was done."

She drew herself up. "I learned a lot about my mother in that time, you know? When you're married to such a big man, big in whatever sense, it's hard not to submerge your personality to some extent. I switched my major from electrical engineering to literature so that I wouldn't be competing with him, and because he thought lit chicks were cute. But I discovered ... that marrying me had just been a goal to him. I was something he wanted, or thought he wanted, and he applied the same brilliance and fire towards reaching that goal that he applied to everything else in his life. I marveled at it in retrospect, how he enlisted my friends and co-workers to find out my likes and dislikes, tastes and background, so that he managed to surprise me and be the perfect courtier. But once he already had me, I was just another accessory."

Hank shook his head. "I can't even imagine you like that."

Tandy gave him a rueful smile. "But I spoil really easily, and after a while my fur started to bristle. We fought a lot, we fought nasty. And, well, he hit me. How do you bring yourself to hit back someone in a wheelchair? So for the third time in my life, I ran away from my family."

Erol started to crawl across the room again. Tandy stretched out a foot, blocking him from leaving the room. "Ga!" he said and started to poke at it. She looked contemplative. "I was scared as hell. My husband had a nasty, vengeful streak that I had seen directed against others, and I knew that he was perfectly capable of deciding I had betrayed him and hunting me down ... the next couple days I spent covering my tracks as best I could, withdrew from the university, and skipped town."

Hank said, "I'm proud of you, sweetheart. I know what he was like."

Tandy leaned down, picked up Erol and deposited him in her lap. She looked back at her sister. "I spent a week of reconciliation with Marie, dangerous I know. Oh, but it was so good to heal at least one wound from my past! She'd gotten married to a lovely, lovely man named Richard. Things were hard money for them, so I gave them some of the cash that remained from what I withdrew from the bank when I split. Finally we hugged and damn I hadn't cried in a long time, but finally I left ... for their safety, because I was damn certain there would be a private dick on my trail. But I wasn't running away."

Marie blushed a little, "You had always been welcome here."

Tandy nodded. As she talked, Erol rolled over and crawled across the couch, ending up in Hank's lap. "Not much to talk about after that. I'd seen no sign of my 'ex' for ages. After a while I stopped lying low, started to get involved in some local things, doing work for the Federal Welfare Center in Berkeley. I even started taking some courses again ... that's what was going on when I met you, Hank. And that's ... that's why I've been such a mess since I met you, too. The conflict with Boss Dargo brought up too many old specters, and the fact that we weren't able to face him ... that we had to run away again, even though it was for a good reason, like saving your father ... preyed on me. I hated to abandon Tyrone, although I knew at most levels it was too late for us to do anything for him ... but I felt like it was exactly what my sister didn't do for me. The fact that you've been so nice to me was something new I had to deal with, too, and I'm afraid I wasn't always able to handle it. But life's been good ... you've been good. And I hope nothing I've told you today changes that."

Hank looked at her, stroking her cheek with the back of one hand. "I love you Tandy. It makes me angry ... I want to kill the people who hurt you. But nothing you could ever say or do could make me think any less of you." He smiled softly as Erol gripped one of his fingers with his little fist. Hank turned to Marie, "He's beautiful, you know." "Da!" the child burbled.

Tandy Bowan looked at her lover, her eyes wet. "Yes, yes he is. Just like his father."

* * *

Stathis and Aspacia had been bound roughly in leather cord. The shadowy figures circled round the pair. Aspacia begged, "Who are you?"

They murmured in response, speaking in series.

"We are Actaeus, Antaeus, Damonax, Lycus, Megalesius, and Ormenos."

"We are the Telchines."

"We are the Children of the Sea."

"We are the children of Thalassa and Pontus, the sea titans."

"We made the sickle of Cronus, with which mighty Zeus cut his father's thews. We helped Capheira to nurse Poseidon in his childhood. We made the first statues of the gods. We were the hounds who tore Actaeon to pieces."

"Poseidon fell in love with our sister Halia, and begot our niece Rhode and six nephews."

"Lively lads were they, and were irreverent to the goddess Aphrodite, and thus struck mad by her."

"In their madness they ravished their mother and committed other atrocities. Did the gods remember our services? Did they take pity on those whom they themselves drove mad?"

"Poseidon sunk his misbegotten children. In revenge, we hid in the city founded by our niece and put the evil eye on the works of men. We were driven out by the power of the Eternolympians."

"The gods thought us dead, but they had only slain the three eldest of the nine of us: Chalcon, Argyron, and Chryson ... those whose names mean Copper, Silver, and Gold."

"Copper, Silver, Gold."

"Now, the bitch Aphrodite has created an avatar on Earth once more. Now, we shall have our revenge."

Stathis appealed, "Please ... release my wife ... take me if you want ... just let her go ... "

"An excellent idea," replied Damonax, and raised his trident, impaling Stathis through the throat.

Aspacia screamed. "Oh no, oh god, what are you going to do to me?"

"We are letting you go," said another of them. He brought forth to her a black cloak, made of an indestructible metal alloy, pounded thin as cloth. He wrapped it over her shoulders.

Her next scream was choked off as the cloak enveloped her like a living thing. The blackness sheathed her body. The figure which had once been a human woman smiled at the magicians, then lifted into the air, soaring off into the east.

"Fly, our kestrel, fly. Take revenge for us."

"For Copper, Silver, Gold."


	17. The Whence Of Letter And Spirit

She starved. She was possessed by the darkness, and it gave her an insatiable hunger. She had traveled far and it only made her hungrier.

Then, she felt it. Enough power to sate her. Maybe, maybe. She moved towards it, reaching out.

* * *

Tandy should have seen it coming.

She leaned forward, and shrieked as she felt the fingers on her ribs. "Aaah stop that!" She whirled around and whapped Hank in the chest. "I better not have lost that contact lens, you brat."

Hank laughed and went back to sit on the edge of the bed, watching her as she performed her early evening rituals. She peered in the sink, found the small plastic shell, and repositioned it on the palm of her hand after glaring at Hank. She poured some cleaning fluid into her hand and gently rubbed the day's grime off the lens.

She reached for the second half of the set, pulling her eyelid open, and gently removing the lens from her eye. "You know what always freaks me out?"

He walked over to lean against the doorframe. "What?"

She repeated the cleaning ritual. "For some reason, the fact that Dagger wears different clothes than I do, and has all these super powers, seems totally natural ... but she has perfect vision. What happens to the contacts? Does she absorb them? I don't know why, but that always ... "

The lights flickered on and off. "That's weird," Hank said, "must have been a short-circuit. Do you remember where the flashlight is, babe?"

He watched as her body shimmered with silver in the darkness. "No," Dagger said. "It's not a short-circuit. It's something else. Do you feel it?"

There was a blur of red. "Yes, I do," Hawk replied.

The streets were empty in the twilight, and the pair decided to risk taking Hank's car. He drove while Dagger's more astute senses guided them across the city. He looked at her with concern, "Criminey, we're heading right towards the nuclear power plant."

She pointed, "There, do you see it? My god."

They were still a quarter-mile away when they saw the darkness. It hung like a cloak over the power generator, and seemed to be slowly increasing in size.

They parked the car and traveled the rest of the way on foot. The power plant was surrounded by police cars. Hawk recognised the local sheriff, and the pair approached.

"Hawk, Dagger," he greeted them, "You know anything about this?"

Hawk shook his head, "No sir. Have your experts been able to discover anything?"

The sheriff sighed, "Most of our experts are inside there. It's resisting all attempts to probe it, and the two expeditions we've sent in lost radio contact as soon as they entered the field of darkness."

Dagger held up a hand, illuminating the surroundings. "Maybe third time will be the charm. I should have enough light to guide us both."

"Good luck with you," he replied, and the pair wandered in.

From inside the power plant, Hawk and Dagger explored through the darkness, she using her powers to illuminate their way. The darkness seemed to swallow her light, and they could only see a few feet ahead of them at any point.

"Oh, Hawk, look." They came upon one of the power plant workers. He was curled up in the hallway, leaning against a wall, shivering.

They knelt down, and she put her hand on the man's cheek. "He's like ice."

Hawk read the man's security badge. "Mr. Vereisen? Can you tell us what happened?"

Dagger shook her head, "I don't think he's really conscious."

Hawk looked at her. "Can you do anything for him?"

She bit her lip. "I don't know ... I can try." She placed her hands over his heart, and tried to infuse some of her light into his body. Slowly, the man stopped shivering, and fell into what appeared to be a natural sleep.

Dagger nodded quietly at Hawk, and the two of them continued following their heightened senses towards the center of the darkness, Dagger assisting the victims they came across when she could.

"Well. Well well well well well well well ... " the strangely accented voice echoed. Hawk and Dagger looked around them, and a woman descended from the ceiling, swooping like a bird of prey. She wore an ebony cloak which seemed to blend in with the surrounding darkness, and her costume was made of swirls of darkforce moving fluidly over her body, barely concealing the skin underneath.

"Who the heck are you?" Hawk asked.

The woman ignored the question, and turned to Dagger. "Do you want to try to warm me as well?" she asked.

Dagger put her hands up, "Let me try," she said, and she tried to penetrate the woman's darkness with her light. The darkness seemed to pull at her, drawing the light out of her body, and Dagger felt herself weakening.

"Let her go!" Hawk shouted, and leapt at the woman.

"Hawk ... don't ... " Dagger said weakly.

The woman opened her cloak, and Hawk disappeared inside it. Then she seemed to fold into herself, wrapping herself around him.

"Hawk?" Dagger called out.

The figure stood again, and where the woman's face was, her lover's was in its place. "There is no more Hawk," he said. "There is only ecstasy."

* * *

From outside the power plant, the sheriff watched Dagger's light disappear inside the field of darkness. He looked at his technical support team. "They're gone," they told him, "same as the others."

Then the sheriff got on the phone, and he called the city of Sacramento.

And Sacramento called Washington.

And Washington called the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

* * *

Judge Hall woke up with a start. A nightmare ... something about his son, lost in the darkness? He shivered, and wondered at the cold. He peered over to the alarm clock, noting that the digital display was absent. No wonder the house temperature was so low: there must be a blackout, and the electric central heating had switched off.

He reached into his side table for his flashlight, and donned a dressing gown hanging by the bedside. He made his way to the kitchen, as the wall clock there was battery powered.

It was 3:AM. Far too early in the morning to call Hank and see whether he was all right. Judge Hall shrugged, it was probably nothing, just an old man's fears. He'll phone Hank and Tandy later and check on them.

He decided he was probably not going to fall back asleep. Besides, he had planned to wake up early to study precedent for a court case he was to oversee the next day. He went into the living room to start a fire. Maybe he could relax, even brew some coffee in the fireplace. He hadn't done that in years.

Suddenly, his body was encased in a nimbus which filled the room with light. "My god, what's happening?" he said. He felt the power thrilling through him as the silver and blue costume formed over his body, and the voice of Allen Adam whispered in his mind, explaining that he was the newest bearer of the power of Captain Galaxy.

* * *

Captain Galaxy = Captain Atom + Captain Universe


	18. The Leaving Of It

"There is no more Hawk," he said. "There is only ecstasy."

Dagger moaned her lover's name. She ran.

The darkness followed her. Dagger forced herself to concentrate. She knew that she couldn't use her light-powers against the amalgamated creature, she needed to retreat and regroup. She summoned what was left of her light and attempted to channel it through her muscles, increasing her endurance enough that she could attempt to escape to the outside.

Her feet did not echo as she ran back down the hallway. The very sounds seemed to be absorbed by the darkness. All she could hear was her breathing and the pounding of her heart. What had the thing done to Hawk? How could she undo it? She needed help ... maybe she could contact Nightcreeper somehow, he's a member of the Judgment League Avengers ... but first she had to survive this.

The thought of running away on her lover made her gut wrench, but she knew she had no choice. She passed the sleeping bodies of one of those to whom she had given her light. No, she thought, I am not so far gone I must steal the life force back.

Left ... left ... left again ... right ... she desperately tried to retrace their path. When she would pause to get her bearings, she found herself no closer to the exit than she had been. Was she wandering in blind circles, or was the darkness somehow twisting space within itself? There must be another solution. She felt a chill, even through the aura her power provided. Think, damn you, think.

There must be some equipment in the nuclear generator itself. Could she shut it down somehow? Maybe that would close off the entity's power supply and make it more manageable. She choked off a scream as she saw the darkness circle around her. Looking around frantically, she saw the fire escape ladder visible through an outside window.

She grit her teeth, and crashed through the window, catching the ladder and pulling herself up. She scrambled to the roof, hoping to get a layout of the plant from an aerial view. Her lungs ached with the effort, her breath grew more ragged.

She remembered vaguely the position of the generator in relation to the office complex. She knelt, took a running start to the edge of the roof, grit her teeth hard, and leapt off it to the ground. The pain on her landing took her breath away, but she rolled over with the impact and pushed herself to her feet, heading straight for the body of the generator. She found the darkness was already there ahead of her.

She felt it wrap around her body, her lover's face contorted with ecstasy as the darkness extracted the light from inside her. She barely saw the fireballs as they descended from the sky.

Their careers were legend: Agent Atom, Atomic, Captain Galaxy, Captain Gamma, Captain Quasar, Captain Star, Captain Warlock, Captain Wonder, Gammatron, the Living Atom, the Quantum Leap-Frog, and Dr. Draxhattan.

Captain Galaxy landed by the woman's body. "My god ... Tandy?" He looked into the darkness. "Is my son in there?"

At his words, the darkness coalesced into Hank Hall's form, still clad in the cloak of darkness. "Salutations, Judge Hall," it said.

The older man narrowed his eyes. "You're not my son, though you might be wearing his face somehow." The darkness reached out for him, and he felt the Captain Galaxy powers start to ebb.

A sudden blast of energy from Atomic's visor severed the tendril of darkness. Then, the rest of the companions added their power to his. Hank Hall's face laughed. "Again, again!" it said, absorbing the power.

Captain Warlock mused, "This tragedy won't be ended this way. We can't burn out the darkness, we must deconstruct it."

Judge Hall felt the power of Captain Galaxy flow back into him, as Allen Adam's voice in his mind taught him how to use his power to perceive the deep structures which bound all things together. The impromptu 'Judgment League Atomic' refocused their heightened perceptions; they sought to break the darkforce apart and free the human passengers inside.

The man who had been Hank Hall howled in pain and anger, and responded in kind. The darkness warred with the light, absorbing what power it could, tearing apart what it couldn't. Captain Gamma and Gammatron were the next wounded, as the darkforce stabilised the quantum indeterminacy which had caused them to exist simultaneously after they had been split in the gamma bomb explosion. For a brief moment, a twice-amalgamated figure who could only be called Captain Gammatron stood united as their wave forms collapsed into one, then the body of Nathaniel Banner fell to the ground, unconscious.

But the force of the light was too great, and the darkforce recoiled. Watching from outside, the sheriff and his men shielded their eyes at the fierce illumination as the cloak wrapped around itself and was gone.

Captain Galaxy looked at the empty space. "Hank?" he whispered. He turned to the others. "Have we killed him?"

Dr. Draxhattan shook his head. "It is improbable. I sensed a generation of tachyon particles when he disappeared. There was a temporal displacement. I must depart now, my search for Thanoseid is not yet over."

"Oh boy," said the Quantum Leap-Frog, disgustedly. "Maybe I'll encounter him on one of my time-jumps."

Captain Star nodded solemnly, disturbed by Dr. Draxhattan's mention of his half-brother. "So he's lost in time, and lost in space."

The Captain Galaxy powers faded, leaving Judge Hall in their place as they went off in search of a new host. The older man knelt down, touching the face of the desiccated corpse that had been Tandy Bowan. His voice was heavy with grief. "And meaning."

And super heroes  
Come to feast  
To taste the flesh  
Not yet deceased  
And all I know  
Is still the beast is  
Feeding

* * *

Lyrics copyright Richard O'Brien.


End file.
